The first books I can remember on my own are the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  I absolutely loved them, still do for that matter!  When I say Laura Ingalls Wilder was my inspiration I mean it in so many different ways. 

When I was a child her books inspired me and made me want to read.  I still have the original set my grandmother gave me.  They are so worn that some of the pages are coming out but I can’t make myself get rid of them because they hold so many great memories.  I read them whenever I was upset because my family life wasn’t going well or when I had trouble at school.  I knew, even at a young age, that the stories were based on Laura’s life.  That made me feel like there was someone that had been through more than I was going through and if she had made it through so would I.  It was a place I could go to escape and find comfort.  Ma and Pa and the sisters always felt like family to me.  When Laura spent long hours studying it made me want to study and do well in school.  When I thought I hated school I would think of how lucky I was and how much Laura would appreciate being able to go the classes I hated.  Her books made me feel lucky and loved and happy.  All pretty great things for a kid to feel.

When I was a teenager they inspired me and made me want to become a teacher.  I really think it was my early obsession with the Little House books that made me want to be a teacher.  Laura was a teacher and she was just about perfect in my mind so I’d be a teacher too.  I wanted other people to love learning as much as I did.  When I got my first school I always remembered the problems Laura had with her first school.  She helped me create my classroom policies and is the reason I don’t raise my voice to children.  To list all the ways she has inspired me as a teacher will take another post!

As an adult they still inspire me and make me want to be a better person.  Laura was always very honest about her temper.  It is something she struggled with throughout her life and it is discussed in almost every book.  Yet another thing we had in common.  I have the worse temper of anyone I know and I’ve always had trouble thinking before I speak.  I still think of her whenever I’m really tempted to fly off the handle.  She handled herself like a lady, an art I sometimes think is lost.  While I don’t consider myself ladylike I do have ladylike aspirations that are fueled, to a great degree, by her.  Her love of books and learning mirror my own and I think I learned those values in part from reading her books.

While she has written and inspired many books these are the books I grew up with.

Little House Books by Laura Ingalls Wilder:

• Little House in the Big Woods
• Farmer Boy
• Little House on the Prairie
• On the Banks of Plum Creek
• By the Shores of Silver Lake
• The Long Winter
• Little Town on the Prairie
• These Happy Golden Years
• The First Four Years

I plan to read these books with my children and hope they fall in love with them the same way I did.  What books inspired you as a child?  Has the meaning of your childhood favorites changed over time?

Photo Credit:  mhowry, from Flickr, Creative Commons License