Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder

I'm not sure how many times I've read this book.

And I never tire of it.

This time, I read it out loud to my boys, five year old twins, it was their first chapter book listen and a perfect choice for them.  They were already very familiar with the characters and stories from the Little House picture books, which certainly helped them stay interested. 

I love Laura's personality.  She's fiesty and aware, she loves her family and is so comfortable in her life.  I like the stories that Pa tells of his childhood and family - my boys especially loved these.  Tales of panthers and bears and forbidden sledding trips.  I even like the chapters that are just about what life was like during this period - how Pa make a smokehouse out of a tree, how he collected honey or butchered a pig, how Ma made butter or cheese.  You'd think my wild and crazy sons would get bored but they never did!  It helps that the edition I read was doubly big - a read aloud edition - so the pictures were big and this story does have many illustrations.  Yes, it's a big didactic at times and can be a tiny bit repetitive but the changing of the seasons and their hard-working life dictate a lot of that. 

We loved spending time with this Big Woods family and we had a good enough experience that I think we might try more in the series!