Little House in the Wrong Thread

[Soloist]

I think it’s a good thing that Laura wrote in positive terms about her father rather than detailing his numerous failings.

Would we say the same about Howard Bean if someone who knew him only wrote about the positives?

Why do we know about the failures of David? This obviously is a broader point but I believe whitewashing is a complaint leveled against Mennonites and here is a perfect example.

[Ken]

Perhaps he was referring to himself when he said “robbing the cradle”. Quite an odd way to say it.

Other Mennonites tend to hang out in groups or maybe occasionally have an ice cream shop date for a half hour (once a week). That is how they do dating. Of course a couple that likes each other will take chances to go to any youth activities, volunteering, etc. - I used to go to a kids’ Bible club that was almost comical how many couples got established there (of the volunteers, not the kids).

We don’t think there’s anything wrong with being married at age 18 and in fact most young people really, really don’t want to find themselves single at age 25 and age 30.

I still don't want my daughters marrying at age 18. In some parts of the world, age 25 isn't considered "over the hill"

I don’t want my children fornicating, and it’s quite clear that God’s plan is for most young people to be married. We have a massive problem in America with out of wedlock pregnancy and fornication.

I’m not sure why someone would think being married at 18 is a bad thing. The Bible says that marriage is a blessing.

Legally 18 year olds can get married in any state and I'm fine with that. But personally I don't think most 18 year olds are mature enough to really know what they want to do in life and don't yet have the skills and education to reach their potential. I teach 18 year olds and few of them are mature enough or ready to make the kind of decision that will affect every moment of the rest of their life.

If you want to lay down a very narrow path for your children that involves no college education, no independent living, no discovery of their own interests outside of your roof, no travel, no experiencing a variety of different jobs, and so forth then fine. My oldest daughter is now 24 and she is a vastly different person than she was at 18. She knows who she is now and she has life experiences and skills. And she is far more mature about the kind of guy she wants to be with. I approve of they guys she sees now. Not so much when she was age 18. Not that they were bad guys, they just didn't really know who they were either.

[Ken]

I think it’s a good thing that Laura wrote in positive terms about her father rather than detailing his numerous failings.

Would we say the same about Howard Bean if someone who knew him only wrote about the positives?

Why do we know about the failures of David? This obviously is a broader point but I believe whitewashing is a complaint leveled against Mennonites and here is a perfect example.

Little House on the Prairie is children's fiction and intended for early readers and should be read as such. Later they move on to books like Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women" or other 19th Century American literature. It is fiction, not biography, and fits in with Tom Sawyer, the Wind and the Willows, and such. All of which are complete fiction. I'm not aware that Laura Ingalls Wilder was such a flawed individual that her works should be discarded. Like most other authors, she wrote them to tell stories for children and to sell books. Not to dish dirt on her father or expose family trauma and conduct personal therapy in public. It isn't a good thing or a bad thing that she didn't dish a lot of negative dirt on her father. Those just aren't appropriate (or interesting) themes for children's fiction aimed at 8 year olds who are learning to read. She actually wrote them later in life in the 1930s to earn a living and avoid destitution after the 1929 stock market crash wiped out all the family's investments.

But as children become more mature they should indeed be exposed to a more nuanced and realistic picture of the real world. By high school my daughters moved on to read Emily Bronte, Jane Austin, Louisa May Alcott, Charles Dickens, George Orwell, Edith Wharton, Shakespeare, more modern authors like Faulkner, Morrison, and current authors like Angie Thomas. Also the Bible and other ancient authors like Sophocles and Homer. Google any AP literature reading list to see what HS students are reading today. They should be challenged, not coddled. Their brains can take it.

[ABC 123]

I think it’s a good thing that Laura wrote in positive terms about her father rather than detailing his numerous failings.

Would we say the same about Howard Bean if someone who knew him only wrote about the positives?

Why do we know about the failures of David? This obviously is a broader point but I believe whitewashing is a complaint leveled against Mennonites and here is a perfect example.

Your reasoning is exasperating.

[Soloist]

Your reasoning is exasperating.

It’s interesting the response I’ve received for suggesting that little house on the Prairie isn’t the best book for our children.

If anyone wants to continue discussing that book series, please start a new thread so we don’t continue to derail this discussion.

[ABC 123]

Your reasoning is exasperating.

It’s interesting the response I’ve received for suggesting that little house on the Prairie isn’t the best book for our children.

If anyone wants to continue discussing that book series, please start a new thread so we don’t continue to derail this discussion.

People in this thread: HB should be disqualified as a serious Christian author because he was handsy with children and pretends not to realize this is bad.

Soloist: Laura Ingalls books are terrible children's books because she didn't detail her father's sins.

[Soloist]

Moderators, if you would please move the content regarding little house on the prairie to a new thread.

[Soloist]

Great title

[Soloist]

Soloist: Laura Ingalls books are terrible children's books because she didn't detail her father's sins.

You are exaggerating what I said. I have misgivings about the book series for children and my children have read them. It was an off hand response to Steve.

[Ken]

Two completely separate threads being discussed here.

1. Should we continue to use books that we now know were written by a serial sexual predator and liar? Especially given that there are a near infinite range of alternatives?

2. What are the appropriate themes and subjects for children's literature intended for early readers ages say 7-10. Where your primary objective is to get them to move up from picture books and into chapter books. There are thousands and thousands of chapter books written for early readers in this age range. You have to be selective.

The fact that Laura Ingalls Wilder didn't detail the abusiveness of her father in her works of children's fiction are not in my mind reasons to reject them. Much more problematic in my mind are her portrayal of Indians. "The only good Indian is a dead Indian," is repeated several times by various characters, as the book goes on to describe Indians as "wild", "terrible", "savage warriors." That sentiment was no doubt common among 19th century white settlers who were literally in the process of stealing Indian lands. And it was what they told themselves to justify their crimes and acts of genocide. But it isn't the message we want to pass down to 8 year olds in the 21st century. Would you give your 7 year old a children's book set in Germany in which various sympathetic characters said: "The only good Jew is a dead Jew"? and then went on to repeat various vile stereotypes about the Jewish people?