When my mom homeschooled us, she used the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder to teach us about American frontier life. Who better to turn to than someone who'd lived the experience firsthand?
Well, as some might know, the Little House books weren't entirely factual, though they did very much depict frontier life in an accessible way for young readers. The author had written an autobiography of her life, but it was rejected by publishers. So she worked with her daughter to tell her story in a more accessible format for young readers, and so began the Little House books, which told a somewhat sanitized version of her life as a daughter in a pioneering family.
The books were popular with readers, with a TV series from Michael Landon starting in the 1970s loosely inspired by the books, and even an anime series based on the first two books about Laura in Japan. (Anime girlboss Laura.) The later books and further research into her life formed the basis of two more TV movies released in 2000 and 2002, and then The Wonderful World of Disney produced a live action miniseries adaptation of "Little House on the Prairie" in 2005.
The legacy was of course embraced by the publishers who were publishing a spinoff series by the heir of Laura's daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, taking an approach to telling a fictionalized account of Rose's girlhood. And then other authors attempted to write similar series about Laura's mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. I actually attempted to collect and read these books back in the day, though now I'm a little more skeptical of their value outside of trying to expand the franchise, most of these books now being out of print. (I'd argue that at least the Rose books have a little more claim to authenticity than the others.)
Now Netflix has a new adaptation of "Little House on the Prairie," an eight episode first season with a second season on the way already. It's an interesting case of adaptation if you're familiar with the books and their history. Is it good? Yes.
If you want a straightforward adaptation of the book, you're better off going with Michael Landon's pilot movie for his series. Laura and Mary (her older sister) are considerably older than their literary counterparts. Baby Carrie isn't around at the start, but this is in line with the true story and she's born during the course of the first season.
The book depicts the family as being very isolated in the Kansas prairies, with the town of Independence said to be "forty miles" away, but modern estimates suggest it was really only fourteen, young Laura either mishearing or the older Laura misremembering when she wrote the book. The series makes use of a nearby town to give the story a supporting cast, including adding a native American family from the Osage tribe with a daughter that Laura befriends. The Osage are given an increased presence, the series attempting to more accurately depict what was going on with the tribe being upset that settlers were moving onto their land.
At the end of the book, Pa is upset when he discovers he didn't actually have a legal claim to the land he was living on and decided to move out. This is in the first season as well, but it's depicted far more dramatically.
So while the book accuracy isn't great, the creators of the series deserve some kudos for attempting more historical accuracy.
Also, Luke Bracey as Pa? Uh, thank you...
