Rating: 
Summary: Just couldn't do it.
Review: I can't even bring myself to read this book. I have every single little house book, including the martha, Charlotte, and Caroline years. Those novels of course were writen by different people but from reading the little house years first i was intriged to read the lives of her mother, and grandmothers. Those novels gave me a good sense of what it was like living then. The rose years are great as well. A little disapointing Rose didn't write them herself but MacBride did a good job putting her life in print. But this novel, i just can't even bring myself to buy it.Shamefully i admit i never read the novels until after i had seen the tv series. So i knew her brother died and so forth. I was a little shocked Larua herself didn't write about that time. I sort of thought she would want to honor her brother's short life, but i can see how that would be to painful to write. It just urks me that years later someone else could come up with a lost years book, even if it is based on actual events. I
m sure Cynthia Rylant is a nice person, but she's making money exploting someone elses life, that just doesn't sit well with me. I hope this is the first and last.
Rating: 
Summary: Bittersweet - Leave well enough alone!
Review: I enjoyed reading this book, but at the same time, felt sadness. Cynthia Rylant did a good job of capturing some of the spirit from the other books, but I feel that the reason Laura herself didn't write about this time in her life is because she wanted to forget it. The family experienced so much sadness during this time and maybe she didn't want others to know about it. While reading it, I just kept thinking about how Laura would feel if she knew people were reading this.
I first received the complete set of Little House books when I was 9. I'm 30 now & still read the complete set every fall. I won't put this book with my precious & well-worn set because I will never consider it a real part of the series.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but Not at the Level of the Original Series
Review: I feel that this book is a good addition to the series for young fans who are interested in a summary of what happened during the "missing" two years between On the Banks of Plum Creek and By the Shores of Silver Lake. Rylant does a fairly good job of patterning certain aspects of literary style after Mrs Wilder's, most notably dialogue. However, the book does lack the vivacity of spirit of the originals, since it was not written by Mrs. Wilder herself. This book takes the Ingalls family from Walnut Grove to Burr Oak, Iowa. It relates a story of financial hardship greater than any other in the rest of the series, severe illness, and the death of the Ingalls' son. There is little of the cheerful influences found in the original books to counter these tragedies. I feel that care must be exercised when reading this book with young children. Mrs. Wilder did have good reasons for not wishing to put this story on the pages of a book. Many diehard fans of the series may find it unsettling that the publisher chose to use this story as another installment of the recent outcrop of new Little House books. Rylant's love of the original books made her a good choice to write this one, but the book can't compare to the originals. After all, it was Laura's own spirit that turned the original series into classics, and that simply can't be duplicated in another book, particularly one that contains so much unhappiness It is a good cursory glance at this time of Laura's life for curiosity's sake, but I will never be able to include this book as a member of the series of the originals.
Rating:
Summary: Why couldn't they leave well enough alone?
Review: I fell in love with the Little House books back when I did Little House in the Big Woods in grade three for novel study. Since then I got my parents to purchase the rest of the series and I read them over and over again. I was a bit suspicious of this book because of the whole filling the gap idea. Like one reviewer said, Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote On the Banks of Plum Creek and By the Shores of Silver Lake so that it wasn't obvious there was a hole. But now that they've brought in Old Town in the Green Groves... Anyways, onto the actual book itself. Cynthia Rylant is a great author but she fails misearably here. I have a feeling she did this for the sake of money, not because she wanted to write it. This book does not have the vivid descriptions or magical feel to it like the originals. The writing was way too simplistic and the dialogue sounds cut up from the originals and pasted together. Somehow a modern feel leaks into it too... Oh, and by the way I forgot to mention that even though I managed to get to the end I was still left wondering about what happened. So, I had to go to the library and take out a biography on Laura Ingalls Wilder instead. I think the publishers (whoever they are) should have just left the Little House Books by themselves. They stood out on their own just fine. Also, I think it was unfair to add this book in because Laura didn't want to write about those years, considering how depressing they were. They should've respected her wishes instead but it's too late now...
Rating:
Summary: No-just NO!
Review: I love the original Little House books, so when I saw this novel claiming to detail "the missing years" I thought I'd give it a try. It was interesting to read someones view of what may have happened during those years between "On the Banks of Plum Creek" and "By the Shores of Silver Lake." But that's just it-what MAY have happened. The main structure of the story was true, but the events were fictionalized or made up.
Also-if Laura didn't write about these years herself, there must have been a reason. It almost seems an invasion of privacy to guess about what happened to make her not want to write about the time. If she had wanted us to know, she would have told us.
I did enjoy this book. But if I ever buy it, I won't put it on my shelf between "On the Banks of Plum Creek" and "By the Shores of Silver Lake." I don't consider it part of the "Laura Years" and I don't think it should be listed as so on the back of the book.
Rating: 
Summary: Good
Review: I've always loved the original Little House series and I still do. Little House in the Green Groves was a good way to find out what really did happen to Laura and the rest of the Ingalls but you can tell definately this isn't Mrs. Wilder's style of writing and descriptive ideas. Overall I thought the book was well done in another perspective but if you're a hardcore fan of Mrs. Wilder's writing style I wouldn't recommend that you read it. But if do want to find out what it was like those two years as a summary read it! ^_^
Rating:
Summary: A Bitter Disappointment
Review: It seems the publisher or whoever controls the rights to Laura's books chose Cynthia Rylant for the big-name author approach. Rylant is obviously great, but why couldn't she cut it here? Laura's character is clearly changed, obviously having a "modern" sensibility not in the other books. For instance, in this book the character of Laura refers to her family as "pioneers"--something not done in the original books. The character of Ma is very different in tone, too. Rylant just slapped on the characteristics--such as Pa calling Laura "flutterbudget." Rylant must have chosen to write this book for the money, because it clearly is the worst thing she's ever written. The original series had a particular, exact style. Putting this book in between "Plum Creek" and "Silver Lake" doesn't "fill in" anything--the books were originally written to bridge the gap. Now, with the "Martha" and "Charlotte" books and the new series about everyone who ever approached the Little House, the magic of the original books is getting diluted. In the future no one will probably know which are the "real" books by Laura and which are the books about Ma as a girl, grandma as a girl, Rose as a girl, etc. etc. . How sad. The publisher, HarperCollins, is killing the goose that laid the golden egg.
Rating:
Summary: This is NOT a Little House book!
Review: Let me begin by saying that Cynthia Rylant is an accomplished author, and has written several books that I've read and enjoyed. This is not one of them. If you are at all familiar with the Little House books, the style of this book will appear glaringly unsimilar. The original series had the unique feature of progressing in reading/comprehension difficulty as the age of the characters progressed--thus, Little House in the Big Woods was the 'easiest' read, and "These Happy Golden Years" was the most advanced. Using this criteria, "Green Groves" does not fit into the space between "On the Banks of Plum Creek" and "By the Shores of Silver Lake." It reads too simply. Additionally, the conversations between the characters will make you squirm; Laura's books may be wholesome, but they never were saccharine! Rylant has them speaking like "The Beverly Hillbillies," when they aren't being 'cutesy-wootsey;' this is certainly not a feature of any of the original books! I think that the stilted dialog was one of the major disappointments of this book. Even if the dialog had been true to the originals, however, it is still disconcerting to have someone step forward and claim to know the intimate family details (right down to the dinner conversation!) of a family not her own, and not her contemporaries. As a Laura Ingalls Wilder program presenter, I am fairly well-informed about her life and times, and I've read the original books more times than I can count. (I've worn out three sets...) Still, I would not profess to be able to step into Laura's shoes, and write about her life as if I had been there. I think that the most upsetting thing of all is that the original, wonderful books are being buried in a sea of look-alike (as far as the covers go!), wannabe, spin-off books, and that today's children might miss the excitement of knowing Laura and her family. What a loss.
Rating: 
Summary: Such a joy!!!
Review: On the Banks of Plum Creek was one of my favorite books since I was 9. For some reason I loved reading about Laura's life on Plum Creek. I knew there were stories she didn't feel like telling because it was too painful to write about yet I was curious about the rest of her life in Minnesota. I was so delighted to find this book! Like another reviewer said, I don't know if it should be considered part of Laura's original series, but it is still a joy. The author has a very positive yet non-saccarine way of telling the story, and she well-establishes the characters, showing what a loving family Laura has and how much she loves her family...you really feel like Laura is a part of you; almost a soulmate. I just wish Johnny had gotten what he deserved; he was such a rascal to Laura and her sisters. He should've known better than to pick on girls. If I was there I'd fix him for Laura!!
Rating: 
Summary: Filling in the Gaps
Review: This a good, solid, account of Laura Ingalls' life between On the Banks of Plum Creek and On the Shores of Silver Lake. Between these two stories is an actual gap of two years. Laura never wrote about this time but did leave several pages of unpublished memoirs behind regarding it.
During this two years, the reader learns about the birth of Freddie, Ma's serious illness, Freddie's death, a move to Burr Oak to run one of the hotels in town, and then the various moves made within the Burr Oak area.
From reading this account of Laura's "missing years," the reader comes to understand why Laura didn't write about this time. Laura inherited wanderlust from Pa, and this story isn't about the adventures of traveling west that Laura found so joyous. While a very important time in the Ingalls' family history, it isn't a particularly happy time.
Whether you are an adult who grew up reading the Little House Books, or you are introducing them to your child for the first time, this story is a welcome addition to the series. Although not written by Laura Ingalls Wilder, the story, written by Cynthia Rylant, does capture the feeling of the original series, and gives all Laura fans an additional peek into her fascinating pioneer life.
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