In this first book in the Little House series, the Wilders live in the "big woods" of Wisconsin in a small log cabin. The area is already settled, and they have neighbors, though none too close by. The book is a year-long series of vignettes about the family's life. Their first conflict is the struggle to survive: Pa, their father, must hunt and kill enough animals for them to eat through winter as well as to have fur pelts to trade in the spring. The family must slaughter a pig for winter provisions and harvest crops and vegetables. In the winter, they gather maple syrup, while spring and summer are exhausting seasons of planting and harvesting.
Other conflicts animate the story: the tomboy Laura, the book's protagonist, is often jealous of and sometimes fights with her pristine, golden-haired older sister Mary, who is prettier and does everything in a more ladylike way. Laura struggles with her own tendencies to disobey and rebel; for instance, she touches hot bullets although she is warned they will burn her fingers and she does not want to sit still, be quiet, and be good on Sundays. Although very young, Laura must learn to control her impulses, a lesson repeatedly reinforced in the narrative.
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