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Little House on Rocky Ridge Review

The kids I know seem to enjoy the continuation of this servies. This is good and I certainly would suggest they be encouraged to read this and the rest of the continuation series by MacBride. After all, reading is reading and if they enjoy them I am certainly not one to cast stones. On the other hand, for those that grew up on the originals, i.e. the Wilder books, will be very, very disappointed in this and other works by MacBride. The narrative is forced, the historical data is very, very faulty, and the overall dialogue has a sticky cloying quality about it. The stories simply are not of the same quality. But, as I said, these were written for young folks and if they enjoy them, more power to them. It is difficult enough to get kids to read anything. At least these books are familiar ground for them and certainly won't hurt them. I am giving this one the fours stars for that reason and no other.

Little House on Rocky Ridge Overview

Pioneer for a New Century

Meet Rose Wilder, Laura Ingalls Wilder's daughter, and the last of the Little House girls.

Rose and her parents, Laura and Almanzo, say good-bye to Ma and Pa Ingalls and Laura's sisters. In a covered wagon containing all their possessions, they make their way across the drought-stricken Midwest to the lush green valleys of southern Missouri. The journey is long and not always easy, but at the end is the promise of a new home and a new life for the Wilders.

Little House on Rocky Ridge is the first book in The Rose Years, an ongoing series about another spirited girl from America's most beloved pioneer family.

100 Favorite Paperbacks 1994 (IRA/CBC)

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Customer Reviews

Very Good read!!! - HopefulDrummer -
While reading the original Laura years, I felt sadness because the books were coming to an end. But to my joy, I found these books. I found that they were very closely related in writting to the original Laura's books. MacBride did a great job. I love them!!! Recommended buy!!!

A very important tidbit if you are considering this new edition - MollyRK - Chicago
I remember being about 8 years old when "The Rose Years" series of books originally debuted with "Little House on Rocky Ridge," an easily pleasing story for readers who enjoyed Laura Ingalls Wilder's original books. Now, with the entire "Little House" collection (including Laura's stories and the tales written about her mother Caroline, grandmother Charlotte, and great-grandmother Martha) getting a little makeover with these brand-new editions, there are a couple of things to keep in mind before buying.

If you remember when this book first came out in 1993, you may recall that it contained 368 pages. This condensed version--complete with the photographic cover of an adorable little rosy-cheeked child--is comprised of only 176 pages.

I was stunned when I discovered that the new editions of these books (except for the original 9 from Laura's collection) will all be made up of abridged text. The updated covers are one thing. Okay, they wanted to maintain the stories' "contemporary relevance" with these flashy new covers, also eliminating the Garth Williams illustrations that helped make the series so successful in the first place. This is at least understandable, but passing these stories off in condensed versions is both inappropriate and unacceptable for books that are so timeless and important for all generations.

I am not usually the type to get upset about things like this, but because I remember reading these Rose stories as a child, I feel compelled to at least let consumers here know exactly what they are purchasing. I just happened to get a close-up look of the back cover on the Internet, and if I hadn't seen the tiny word "abridged" on the bottom, then I would have been very quick to purchase this. The publishers' motives for doing this are not quite clear, but come on--omitting nearly 200 PAGES OF TEXT is completely ridiculous, and I can't honestly believe that most people would buy this if they were aware of that fact. They must have cut out entire chapters to accommodate this drastic size change, perhaps in an effort to make it easier for young children to read. Well, let me just say that I have read my share of children's literature, and part of the charm of these "Little House" books is the authors' simplistic writing style.

Are the publishers trying to convey the fact that they feel the original versions were too difficult for American children to read? If I remember correctly, this past summer, millions of children camped outside bookstores across America the day before "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" was released, and that book was crammed with 784 pages--and that wasn't even the longest one in the 7-book series! (That honor belongs to "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," which contained a shocking 870 pages.) Despite this, however, several of the most hard-core Harry fans have pored through those books in less than 24 hours, and we're afraid that these softer, simpler, and far more timeless tales of a prairie girl's childhood require severe condensation for future printings? Please.

The new covers for these books are cute, for sure, but I won't be getting rid of my original versions for these. The interesting thing is that these makeovers have been applied to the first two books of Rose's, Caroline's, Charlotte's, and Martha's story collections. They have all been shortened and spruced up with a whole new look for today's kids. Perhaps the publishers are "testing the waters" to see if these books sell, and if that's the case, I hope they sell poorly so they can recognize what a mistake it was to tamper with the original text. If they want to modernize the outside of it to increase the appeal for the current "flashier is better" society, then that is perfectly fine, but sometimes you have to put a little more thought into it than this.

In the meantime, if you have any of the old editions, hang onto them. If you want to complete your collections before the old versions go out of print, act quickly and purchase them before Ebay starts selling them away for sky-high prices. Laura Ingalls Wilder's original books are obviously the best thing to get, though, for the sake of the Garth Williams illustrations that may very well become virtually extinct within the next few years. With a little luck, the remainder of Rose's, Caroline's, Charlotte's, and Martha's books won't get the condensed treatment, and like they did with Laura's stories, maybe they will just stick with the new covers and keep the content exactly as it always was--that is, the complete, endearing tales that the public has treasured the most.

Roger Lea MacBride write false depictions of Laura Ingalls - S. Russell -
Roger Lea MacBride rode the tails of the spoiled and ungrateful Rose Wilder. He fabricated characters and used someone else's material as his own just like Rose. Abe and his brother and sister in law never existed. Laura based her stories on truthful events maybe sometimes embellished or diminished but always truthful. Rose wrote, "Young Pioneers," and "Free Land," from Laura's accounts that were not recommended to young readers. Rose and Roger loudly complain about Laura and her harsh manner and that Rose was the writer behind Laura's books. Laura loved her mother and Rose resented her mother and everything she stood for. Rose was embarassed and only helped out finacially until many years later after she used Laura's material to gain monetary and in the publishing world. She never credits Laura for her material which, would've been non-existent if Laura was her mother. Laura helped at a very young age, and never complained or announced or flaunted her kindess. Rose Wilder was never an accomplished author that she thought she was but she was very manipulative and knew how to punish Laura. In the dual book, The Rose Wilder story both MacBride and Wilder make sure Laura is depicted with a temper and lack of character. The only person who lacked character and was selfish was Rose and MacBride.

*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Jul 11, 2010 11:40:09

Children's Books

Sunday, July 11, 2010