These Happy Golden Years (1943)

by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Other authors: See the other authors section.

Series: Little House: The Laura Years (8), Little House Novels, Chronological Order (book 23)

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Classic Literature. Juvenile Fiction. Juvenile Literature. Historical Fiction. HTML: The eighth book in Laura Ingalls Wilder's treasured Little House series, and the recipient of a Newbery Honor. Fifteen-year-old Laura lives apart from her family for the first time, teaching school in a claim shanty twelve miles from home. She is very homesick, but she knows that her earnings can help pay for her sister Mary's tuition at the college for the blind. Only one thing gets her through the lonely weeks�every weekend, Almanzo Wilder arrives at the school to take Laura home for a visit. Friendship soon turns to love for Laura and Almanzo. The nine Little House books are inspired by Laura's own childhood and have been cherished by generations of readers as both a unique glimpse into America's frontier history and as heartwarming, unforgettable stories. .… (more)

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▾Member reviews

English (68) French (1) All languages (69)

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Showing 1-5 of 68 (next | show all)

Nearly 40 years after starting it, I completed this series, reading it to my own children after stalling at the fifth book as a child. Perhaps The Long Winter was too gruelling for ten year old, or the changing concerns of a maturing Laura weren't as interesting to a young boy who'd just seen Star Wars for the first time. Wonderful to read again and appreciate in a whole new way. (

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RichardHare | Jan 6, 2025 |

Fifteen-year-old Laura lives apart from her family for the first time, teaching school in a claim shanty twelve miles from home. She is very homesick, but keeps at it so that she can help pay for her sister Mary's tuition at the college for the blind. During school vacations Laura has fun with her singing lessons, going on sleigh rides, and best of all, helping Almanzo Wilder drive his new buggy. Friendship soon turns to love for Laura and Almanzo in the romantic conclusion of this Little House book.

PlumfieldCH | Dec 21, 2024 |

I don't think I'll ever give these books less than a 5 star rating, to be honest. They're just so entertaining and educational at the same time and you end up feeling for the Ingalls so much in every story and wanting them to just be happy and safe and healthy. This story was no exception. We did get to know Almanzo a bit better and I like where it ended. I'm looking forward to the last book. I would recommend this book and series. 5 out of 5 stars. (

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Beammey | Dec 21, 2024 |

This was one of my favorite childhood books. I was so obsessed with anything related to “Little House on the Prairie.” This story follows Laura and her romantic endeavors. I love when a book series is able to take us down the path of a person’s lifetime, as opposed to giving us just one brief glimpse into their lives. (

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sealford | Dec 14, 2024 |

I really enjoyed my re-read of this book. I've read it many times in the past. I did find the first part quite disheartening reading of how hard it was for some of these women who didn't want to be in the west. There is something to be said for making the best of a bad situation but I can see the point of view of Mrs. Brewster as well. The monotony of day after day in a cold dreary home seeing no one but your husband and son. What a miserable place Mrs. Brewster made it for Laura.

I did find that this book moved so quickly. I would have liked to have read more about the other schools that Laura taught. The last school we don't even know how many pupils she had. It felt like so much was skipped over compared to the other books.
A really good book though. (

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Piper29 | May 13, 2024 |

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▾Other authors

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Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Laura Ingalls Wilder	—	primary author	all editions	calculated
Jeanmaire, Marie-Agnès	Traduction	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Williams, Garth	Illustrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

▾Series and work relationships

Belongs to Series

Little House Novels, Chronological Order (book 23)

Little House: The Laura Years (8)

Belongs to Publisher Series

Flammarion, Bibliothèque du Chat Perché

Is contained in

The Complete Little House Nine-Book Set by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Little House Books, Volume 2 (Library of America) by Laura Ingalls Wilder

By the Shores of Silver Lake/Farmer Boy/The First Four Years/Little House in the Big Woods/Little Town on the Prairie/The Long Winter/On the Banks of Plum Creek/These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder

▾Awards and Honors

Awards

Newbery Medal (Honor Book – 1944)

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▾Common Knowledge

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Canonical title

These Happy Golden Years

Original title

These Happy Golden Years

Alternative titles

Original publication date

1943 (1e édition originale américaine, Harper & Row)

1979 (1e traduction et édition français, Bibliothèque du Chat Perché, Flammarion)

People/Characters

Laura Ingalls Wilder

Almanzo Wilder

Charles Ingalls

Caroline Quiner Ingalls

Mary Ingalls

(show all 8 items)

Important places

De Smet, South Dakota, USA

Important events

Related movies

Epigraph

Dedication

First words

Sunday afternoon was clear, and the snow-covered prairie sparkled in the sunshine.

Quotations

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

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Original language

Information from the French Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to your language.

Anglais (Etats-Unis)

Canonical DDC/MDS

Canonical LCC

▾References

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Wikipedia in English

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▾Book descriptions

Classic Literature. Juvenile Fiction. Juvenile Literature. Historical Fiction. HTML:

The eighth book in Laura Ingalls Wilder's treasured Little House series, and the recipient of a Newbery Honor.

Fifteen-year-old Laura lives apart from her family for the first time, teaching school in a claim shanty twelve miles from home. She is very homesick, but she knows that her earnings can help pay for her sister Mary's tuition at the college for the blind. Only one thing gets her through the lonely weeks�every weekend, Almanzo Wilder arrives at the school to take Laura home for a visit. Friendship soon turns to love for Laura and Almanzo.

The nine Little House books are inspired by Laura's own childhood and have been cherished by generations of readers as both a unique glimpse into America's frontier history and as heartwarming, unforgettable stories.

▾Library descriptions

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▾LibraryThing members' description

Book description

Fifteen-year-old Laura learns that living away from home and teaching school can be a bit frightening when most of the students are taller than she is, but every week Almonzo Wilder arrives to take her to her family for the weekend.

Available online at The Internet Archive:
https://archive.org/search.php?query=t...

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