The Long Winter Review

I read Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House series of children's books as a child and, well, decided that I wanted to re-read them again as an adult.  My in-laws bought me the complete series of books a couple of years ago and I've been reading and re-reading them ever since!

The Long Winter is the 6th book in the Little House series and it details the trials and tribulations that the Ingalls family faces as they spend their second winter in Dakota Territory.  A local Indian has predicted 7 months of severe blizzards and the first one hit the town hard and very early in October, so the Ingalls family decides to move to their town building rather than trying to weather out a harsh winter in a flimsy claim shanty.

Basically, they just try to survive through the 7 months of blizzards.  Eventually the storms cause the trains to stop running until spring, the stores in town run out of supplies, and the survival of the the citizens is in a very precarious situation...

You'd think that reading Laura Ingalls Wilder's The Long Winter would be depressing, but actually it is an uplifting kind of story because it continually forces you to reflect on how comfortable your life is and how lucky you are to have a warm home, regular meals, etc.  This is supposed to be a children's story and one that they should read just so they can understand how fortunate they are.  As an adult, though, I still enjoy reading The Long Winter because it is a true survival story that humbles me because I don't think I could have survived those kinds of circumstances.  Recommended!