On the Banks of Plum Creek
Recommended. Age: 8+. A Catholic review of this book for parents.
Our review
Laura's family moves to Minnesota and lives in a house dug into a creek bank. Swarms of grasshoppers eat their wheat two years in a row, and Pa must walk far away to find work. A huge blizzard nearly keeps Pa from getting home, but the family is together at Christmas. It is a warm picture of a hardworking family that keeps hope when everything goes wrong. Age 8, set by Bookroo's 8-12 range and Lumen's own read-alone age (no Common Sense Media page could be fetched).
For parents
Age 8, set by Bookroo's 8-12 age range, which matches Lumen's read-alone age of 8; no Common Sense Media page could be fetched. Read it aloud from 6. The scary parts are the grasshopper plague and Pa lost in a blizzard for four days. There is no real violence. Nellie Oleson is mean and Laura is glad when Nellie gets leeches on her legs. Ask: how should we treat someone who is unkind to us? The word Indian appears often, and Mary warns Laura she will be "as brown as an Indian" if she loses her sunbonnet. Use it to talk about speaking of others with respect. The family goes to church when a minister comes to town. Talk about how they kept hope when the crops failed, and where our own hope comes from.