ON THE BANKS OF PLUM CREEK

In this book Laura and her family finally stop their travel at Plum Creek. She and her family live in a dugout for the first part of the book; Pa trades the wagon and horses for it. One day Laura was playing near the deep water by herself and discovered a strange animal, she told Pa and he told her it was a badger. Plum Creek flooded one day and the water was up to the door of the dugout. Laura was told not to go outside, but she did anyway. She was playing on the footbridge and was almost swept away by the rushing current. Pa bought horses for the family that Christmas and told them they would be rich when he harvested the wheat. He also borrowed some wood and built a wonderful house for Ma with a stove and a lean-to. One day Pa took Laura to the waterfall and showed her how to set up a fish-trap. After this they were able to have plenty of fish to eat. It was time for Laura and Mary to start school; so one morning Ma sent them with her old books. The other children made fun of them because they were country girls and their dresses were too short. Nellie Oleson was the worst of all, she always bragged about what she had because her father owned a store in town and she could have everything she wanted. On Sundays the family would go to church in the wagon and the girls would attend Sunday School. Laura and Mary were expected to learn their verses and repeat them the following week; they enjoyed this very much. One day millions of grasshoppers came raining out of the sky. Pa tried to smoke them out of his wheat field but it was no use. They ate everything in sight and laid their eggs. Pa was unable to harvest for two years, and during harvest season he had to walk hundreds of miles to find work. The first year he left he had many holes in his patched boots and his family worried whether or not he had made it; the second year the girls made a count-down on their slate until the day Pa would return. During the next winter there were many three day blizzards; Pa left for town one day in between two of them and got trapped outside for four days. He returned home and had eaten all the oyster crackers and the girls Christmas candy that he had bought. They all agreed that they didn't care that Pa had eaten them, they were just glad he was alive and with them on Christmas.

In this story you see Laura and Mary growing older and gaining responsiblity, they must go to school, learn their verses, and they are left to take care of Carrie. However you also see very playful young girls who get into trouble. They know when they have done something bad and know they will get punished for it.