Re: Old Town In The Green Groves -- Our Laura Ingalls Wilder Forum

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Date Posted: 09:43:18 04/12/02 Fri
Author: Michelle
Subject:

Re: Old Town In The Green Groves
In reply to: Shel 's message, "Re: Old Town In The Green Groves" on 13:19:14 04/11/02 Thu

I have just finished reading the book. I was really disappointed. It was very much like watching one of the Beyond the Prairie movies. Cynthia Rylant got the basic story right, but there were so many inaccurated details. She said she researched dozens of sources. If she did, I don't know how she could have gotten so much wrong. I felt like she didn't even read the books. She did a poor job of capturing Pa and Laura's true spirit. It was more like she captured the TV character portrayls. At one point Pa swears "Blasted rain!" and Laura speaks out of turn in front of strangers. That would never happen!

Some of the things that Nancy said she got wrong, she actually got right. Jack was described as a brindle bulldog, although the picture of him doesn't look like one. The rented house they lived in was behind the church in the book. Carrie's age was right for the most part, although they were off by a few months. They said she was six in the spring when they were walking to school. She actually wasn't 6 until later that summer when they were at Uncle Peter's farm.

Besides the things that Nancy mentioned I take issue with the following:

The house acosss the street from Kimballs' grocery was owned by Peter Pfeiffer, town clerk and justice of the peace. It was his widowed daughter and grandaughters who visited with Ma and the girls. Their names were May and Isadore, not Victoria and Isabel.

Mrs. Starr's daughters names were Ida and Fannie, not Fay.

School lasted until the spring, when it actually lasted until July. Laura stayed home from school to help Ma with newborn Grace and learn her multiplication tables.

Lansford and Edith Ingalls ages were incorrect. Her book says that Edith was 6 and Lansford a baby like Freddie. Actually at that time, Lansford was 6 and Edith was 4. Although Laura had this wrong in Pioneer Girl also. Still, it's not that hard to do the research.

Pa says the fire in the saloon was started by a drunk knocking over a lantern. It actually was started by an oil lamp exploding when the proprietor was putting it out for the night.

There were 3 grasshopper invasions. The summer of 1874,1875,1876.

About 1/3 of the book takes place at Walnut Grove. I felt like Rylant couldn't make a book about only Burr Oak for lack of material, but she left out so many stories she could have put in. There was no mention of the following:

Amy, the hired girl in the hotel.

Mary and Laura having to babysit Tommy Steadman.

Nothing about Miss Sarah Donlan, the lower grade teacher at school.

NOTHING ABOUT MR. BISBY'S SINGING LESSONS!!!!!

Nothing about the bullet holes in the dining room door put there by Will Masters.

The story about Mr. Reid besting Mose and the other big boys was not in there either.

At the end of the book when they left Burr Oak in the middle of the night, I would have liked to have seen some mention made that they were headed back to Walunt Grove. I think it needed continuity to BSSS.

All in all I guess I'm glad the book was written. At least it will let the average reader reading the series for the first time a knowledge that the Ingalls did live in Burr Oak for a time. I can't stand how Harper Collins has promoted this as one of the real Little House Books. I'm just glad that Cynthis Rylant's last name doesn't start with WI so that it's not on the shelves next to Laura's books!

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Gormley bio, another book to have fun (NOT) with... -- nancy, 12:17:22 04/12/02 Fri

The historical teacher in Burr Oak was Mr. REED, not Reid. That's the latest one I caught. The Steadmans also had a daughter MARY, born around the same time as Freddy. Her birth record is on display in Walnut Grove. I often wonder if it was actually Mary Steadman that Laura and Mary babysat? After all, Laura got a lot of other names wrong in Pioneer Girl.

Are you writing a letter to HarperCollins, Michelle? (g)

I missed mention of Jack as a bulldog, thanks! I tried to read as few words as I could (g). There is also an illustration of lace and tie shoes -- did they have lace up shoes in 1876?

Another book that will make you angry is the LIW bio by Beatrice Gormley. Not only does she get Burr Oak wrong, she makes mistakes with every OTHER place Laura lived as well. Did you know that Pepin is on the Missouri River? :-) And this one is supposed to be a biography, not even a work of fiction like Vile Green Groves.

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