Little House in the Big Woods

Describe the setting in this story.

1800’s; Wisconsin when only a few settlers had begun to develop the land

Who’s the main character and her family?

Page 2 — Laura, her older sister Mary, Carrie her younger sister, and her Ma and Pa

2

List and describe the chore/day you would enjoy the best.

Page 29 — Listen to your child’s answer

29

What’s comforting to Laura during the long cold winter?

Page 38 — Safely being inside the cozy cabin with the fire

38

Summarize this chapter.

Page 45 — Laura and Mary helped Pa clean and load his gun; Pa told a story when he was young about how he should have listened to his father and being alone in the woods in the dark

45

Compare how traveling was back in the early settler days to our day today.

Page 64 — Early days, they traveled in sleds pulled by horses all covered in blankets and bundled up; today, we can jump in a vehicle, train, or plane and have a heater to keep us warm

64

Describe how the children made “pictures”.

Page 65 — They’d fall from a stump and land in the snow, trying not to touch and make other prints in the snow

65

Summarize the story Uncle Peter shared and why it was so scary.

Page 68 — Aunt Eliza wanted to go to the spring, but the dog wouldn’t let her; later they found a panther had been in the tree above the spring; the dog saved her from the panther

68

Describe a Sunday for Mary and Laura and compare it to your Sunday. Mary and Laura’s-take bath Saturday night; sit quietly all day; couldn’t play with toys or each other; couldn’t sew; could look at pictures in the Bible or animal book;

Page 84 — listen to your child’s answer

84

Tell me the stories of the two bears in this chapter.

Page 104 — 1st bear: It was dark, and Laura went to help her mother milk the cow; they thought the cow had gotten out of the barn; there was a gate, but mother couldn’t open it all the way to get to the cow, so she slapped the cow and realized it was a large bear; she and Laura hurried to the house and made it safely in; 2nd bear: Pa was coming home from town in the dark and saw a bear standing in his way off the road; Pa didn’t have his gun, so he picked up a branch and ran at the bear; when he hit the bear he realized it was just a large stump

104

Explain sugar snow.

Page 127 — It’s a spring snow that keeps the trees just cold enough to extend the the maple syrup harvest

127

Was this a fun chapter to read? Why, or why not?

Listen to your child’s answer

Why hadn’t Laura known the sky was so large?

Page 164 — She and her family lived in the woods with trees all around them, they couldn’t see the vastness of the sky

164

Why is Laura jealous of Mary?

Page 175 — Mary has golden hair, she looked good and sweet, the storekeeper commented how pretty she was, she kept her dress clean and minded her manners, her candy had a poem on it

175

How did Pa get honey in this chapter?

Page 195 — He found a bear eating honey from a tree; he chased the bear away, cut down the tree and filled all the containers he brought from home

195

Can you answer Laura’s question? How is Charlie a liar?

Page 211 — He cried out like he was in trouble three times and there wasn’t anything wrong

211

Does this remind you of another story?

The boy who cried wolf

Summarize this chapter.

Page 221 — Ma and Laura made hats out of straw; It was time to harvest the garden and grain; Pa convinced his neighbor to hire a threshing machine to come and separate the wheat; it took all day and the girls helped their Ma prepare dinner

221

Why didn’t Pa shoot any animals when he went hunting?

Page 232 — He was too curious watching them

232

Tell me a part of this story you really enjoyed. Why?

Listen to your child’s answer