Little House in Brookfield (Little House: the Brookfield Years) - Softcover

Wilkes, Maria D.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0064406105 ISBN 13: 9780064406109

Publisher: HarperColl, 1996

Synopsis

Spirit of the Western Frontier

Meet Caroline Quiner, the little girl who would grow up to be Laura Ingalls Wilder's mother.

It's 1845 in the bustling frontier town of Brookfield, Wisconsin. Five-year-old Caroline lives in a frame house at the edge of town. Caroline's father was lost at sea the year before, and her close-knit family is struggling to cope without him. Each day brings Caroline new responsibilities and new adventures as she strives to help Mother all she can.

Little House in Brookfield is the first book in The Caroline Years, an ongoing series about another spirited girl from America's most beloved pioneer family.

She’s known best as Caroline Ingalls, Laura’s Ma, in the classic Little House books. Now travel back in time to the 1840’s to the bustling pioneer town of Brookfield, Wisconsin. Caroline, who is just five, lives in a comfortable frame house with her mother, her grandmother, and her five brothers and sisters. Her father was lost at sea the year before, and the family is learning to adjust to life on their own. Caroline knows she must do everything she can to help the little family through this trying time.

Little House in Brookfield marks the launch of an on-going series about the adventures of Caroline Quiner, who would grow up to be Ma Ingalls in the Little House books. Written in the classic tradition of the Little House and the Rocky Ridge books, and based on diaries, letters, and other historical papers, these books offer a glimpse into America's adventurous past, as seen through the eyes of another girl from America's beloved frontier family.

About this title

About the Authors

Maria D. Wilkes first read the Little House books as a young girl and has been fascinated by pioneer history ever since. She did extensive research on the Quiner, Ingalls, and Wilder families, studied original sources and family letters and diaries, and worked in close consultation with several historians and the Laura Ingalls Wilder estate as she wrote the Caroline Years books. She lives in New Jersey with her husband, Peter, and her daughters, Grace and Natalie.

Dan Andreasen has illustrated many well-loved books for children, including River Boy: The Story of Mark Twain and Pioneer Girl: The Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder, both by William Anderson, as well as many titles in the Little House series. He lives with his family in Medina, Ohio.

Reviews

Grade 3-6?Set in the 1840s, when Brookfield, WI, was a frontier town rapidly increasing in population, this story is the first in yet another series of "Little House" books. It focuses on Caroline Quiner (mother of Laura Ingalls Wilder) as a six-year-old in a family of six children recently left fatherless. Their loving mother brings the grieving family through a difficult winter and into a springtime of hope and anticipation as they work together to cope with the great emptiness left by their father's death. The youngsters experience apprehension concerning the first day of school and the embarrassment of wearing worn clothing and shoes with holes. No matter what the difficulty, Mother and Grandmother kindly and firmly guide the children to accept and make the very best of their situation. They relish the special Christmas bread that Mother bakes and appreciate the kindness of helpful neighbors. As the family survives the hardships of rural-frontier life, they grow in strength, experience, and love for one another. The story works well as historical fiction, giving great attention to interesting details of daily events. Black-and-white drawings provide a clear extension of the text. This warm family story follows nicely in the style of the "Little House" books.?Toni Dean, Patchogue-Medford Library, NY
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Excerpt

Hotcakes and Sugar Syrup

Caroline blinked and rubbed her eyes. Wiggling her toes under the sheet, shestretched her arms above her head as high as she could.

"Caroline!" Three-year-old Eliza tugged on Caroline's sleeve. Caroline put herfinger to her lips. "Hush!" she whispered, as Eliza's bright eyes sparkled up ather. "You'll wake Martha!"

Martha, sound asleep on the other side of Eliza, had the linen sheet pulledright up to her chin. Martha was the oldest sister. She was eight years old, andshe didn't like it when Caroline or Eliza woke her up.

Hazy shafts of light began spilling through the window as the rising sunawakened the dark, sleepy sky. Caroline sat up and wriggled her way to the footof the bed. She peeked around the curtain that separated the two beds in theroom. The sheet on the boys' bed still covered two big lumps. Her brothers,Joseph and Henry, were not yet awake.

But Mother was. Her brisk footsteps echoed back and forth over the wooden floorin the kitchen below. Caroline could hear fat pork sizzling in the frying pan,and she knew the sweet smell of hotcakes would soon fill the whole house.

Mother's footsteps were loud and firm as she climbed the stairs to thechildren's room. Her straight black hair was neatly pinned behind her head, andher green eyes already looked tired. "Good morning, Caroline and Eliza," Mothersaid as she peered through the stair railing.

Every morning, Mother looked at the girls' bed first, expecting to find Carolineawake and ready to help her start the day. Caroline loved helping Mother andmaking her smile. Especially now, when Mother didn't smile nearly as much as sheused to.

"Good morning," Caroline replied softly.

"Time to wake Martha and the boys, Caroline. The sun's already rising, and themorning's wasting. Hurry, now." As quickly as she had appeared, Motherdisappeared down the stairs.

Caroline reached over Eliza and gently shook Martha's arm. "Mother says to wakeup, Martha."

Martha pulled the sheet over her head and grumbled, "Hush, Caroline. It's timeto sleep."

"Up, Martha, up!" Eliza sang, bouncing up and down.

Caroline slid out of bed. A cool early-morning draft floated above the woodenboards, chilling her bare feet. Lifting the hem of her cotton nightgown off thefloor, she pushed the curtain aside and tiptoed over to the boys' bed. Gentlyshe shook Henry, who was still asleep.

Henry pushed the sandy curls away from his face and sat up, startled. "Morningalready, little Brownbraid?" he asked. His blue eyes were still full of sleep.

Ever since she was three years old, Caroline had been called "littleBrownbraid." One morning when they had still lived in a log cabin instead oftheir big frame house, Mother had twisted Caroline's thick, soft hair into along brown braid. Father noticed it at breakfast and said, "How pretty you are,little Brownbraid!" and that became his special name for her. "How's my littleBrownbraid?" he'd say, and tug lightly on the bottom of her braid.

Caroline missed Father. He had been gone for almost one whole year. Soon afterall the leaves had fallen from the trees, he had sailed away on a big boatcalled a schooner, and he had never come back. Mother said Father was in heaven.Caroline missed him tugging on her braid. She wondered if his schooner was inheaven, too.

"Mother says it's time to get up," Caroline said importantly.

"Then it must be time to get up!"

Henry nudged Joseph as Caroline turned back to the girls' bed and pulled thecurtain behind her. As she lifted Eliza from under the covers, Caroline heardher brothers jump out of their bed and pull their trousers and shirts on. Thefloorboards creaked and shook as they thundered barefoot down the stairs.

All of a sudden, the room began to smell like Mother's hotcakes, and Carolinewas in a hurry. She shook Martha's arm once more. "Wake up!"

Martha threw the quilt back and leaned up on her elbows. "All right, all right,"she yawned. "I'm awake."

Reaching into the middle drawer of the tall chest that stood at the foot oftheir bed, Caroline pulled out her everyday dress and white petticoat and setthem neatly on the mattress. She opened the bottom drawer and took out Eliza'sdress and petticoat. Eliza squirmed out of her nightgown, and Caroline whiskedher into her clothes. After dressing herself, Caroline turned her back to Marthaand waited impatiently as Martha sleepily fastened the long row of buttons onthe back of her blue cotton dress.

"Hurry, Martha," Caroline urged.

"It's too early to hurry." Martha yawned as she finished buttoning Caroline'sdress.

Caroline didn't think it was too early. She was too busy thinking about thehotcakes. Hotcakes were her very favorite. She loved to drop a pat of butter onthe steaming cakes and watch it melt and slide from the top round cake rightdown to the bottom. Then she'd pour sugar syrup over the top of the stack andeat them before the syrup ever had a chance to drizzle off the hotcakes onto herplate. Her stomach rumbled just imagining it.

Caroline quickly pulled her apron over her head and turned to help Eliza whileMartha dressed. As soon as Martha finished tying her apron strings, the threegirls rushed down the stairs to the kitchen, Caroline leading the way.

The fire in the hearth hissed and popped, and the kitchen glowed as firelightmixed with the early-morning sunshine that now poured through the windowpanes.Grandma rocked slowly in front of the fire, singing softly to baby Thomas andbouncing him on her knees.

"Good morning, Grandma," Caroline and Martha sang out.

Excerpted from Little House in Brookfield by Maria D. Wilkes. Copyright © 1996 by Maria D. Wilkes. Excerpted by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

Copyright © 1996 Maria D. Wilkes.
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 0-06-440610-5

Edition details

• Publisher: HarperColl
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0064406105
• ISBN 13: 9780064406109
• Binding: Paperback
• Illustrator: Andreasen Dan
• Number of pages: 298