I have the wonderful fond memories of my mom reading stories to me and my sisters when we were little. There were a lot of favourites over the years, but one that sticks out is the Little House on the Prairie series. So it was with great excitement that I opened up Little House in the Big Woods last night to start reading to Avery.
I was anticipating idyllic and charming tales from days of old. Turns out I had forgotten that the book is ONE GIANT BLOODBATH.
Ok not the whole book. But the very first chapter of the book chronicles the slaughter of deer, fish, and the family’s pig. Not to mention gruesome descriptions of the butchering process and the mention of terrifying, howling wolves and attacking bears and the family’s ferocious bulldog helping fend off both. IN THE FIRST CHAPTER.
Good mother, hey? Come here, my innocent child. Let me read you a bedtime story full of BLOODSHED and VIOLENCE!
Ok, it’s not like I wouldn’t have read it to her if I had remembered these details. It obviously didn’t scar me as a child. However. I might have tried to prepare her a little better for the bloodbath with a discussion about pioneer life and the lack of modern amenities.
So here’s a little public service announcement for parents who read to their kids: Sometimes “classics” equals gratuitous descriptions of violence towards animals. Be aware! Bring kleenex!
September 4th, 2008 at 11:36 pm
So how did Avery react to the chapter? Did you read more then one chapter? Did you edit as you read to spare her the details? :p
On a side note, I still love Little House!
I just wish the new stories (covering Laura’s grandmother and great-grandmother) had continued their full 7 books and not been discontinued after 4 each due to a conflict with the author and the publisher. 
September 9th, 2008 at 10:01 am
I loved the Little House books when I was a kid. My mom read them each to me several times. Recently though I started reading them to my eight year old and wow. It wasn’t so much the blood and guts I worried about, it was the racism. Every other page I found myself saying things like “Then the savages….. uh, the noble Native Americans stole the furs …. uh, took back the things that were rightfuly theirs in the first place.”