New Year’s Reading List

January 04, 2013

Each year, MCPL sponsors a Librarians Read Challenge, where Library Staff are encouraged to read Children’s and Young Adult books throughout the months of January and February. I’m a creature of habit and always start my new year with Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie books.

The first time I read her series all the way through was when I was in Mrs. Hausam’s 4th Grade class in 1976. Every year since, I have read the entire series. This year will be my 37th time delving into the books. My favorite of these pioneer books, based on Mrs. Wilder’s life growing up in the late 1800s, is The Long Winter. Her descriptions of the struggles her family went through in a winter of blizzards in a pioneer town were so realistic that they make me shiver.

Last year, I was asked to serve on www.AllExperts.com when they are given questions about the Little House on the Prairie books and television series. It’s been fun researching to find answers to people’s questions from around the world. Let me encourage you to check out one or more of the Little House on the Prairie books to read for yourself or to share with a child in your life. They are a treasured series, and they are all available at MCPL.

Janet B.
Raytown Branch