My entry into the world of chapter books was with Little House on the Prairie, mainly because I watched the TV show and had to know more. My favourites of the books? Farmer Boy and Little Town on the Prairie. (In other words, ones that are not related to the TV show at all.) Does it bother me that the TV show is so wildly different from the books? Not in the slightest. There isn't enough material in the books for more than a couple seasons of TV, and a lot of it wouldn't translate well: an episode about Laura learning to play checkers would be too much for even the most die-hard Little House fan to sit through.
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| Aren't they sweet? Who wouldn't want to be friends with them? Source. |
Plus, if not for the show diverging from the books, my favourite characters would never have been introduced: the Garveys.
The Garveys were a lot more like my family than the Ingalls were. Jonathan and Alice disagreed, and argued, a lot. Charles Ingalls got along with pretty much everybody; Jonathan Garvey actively disliked at least one person in town. When Alice was frustrated with their son, Andy, she said so instead of waiting a few days to see if he would figure it out on his own-- even sometimes taking it too far, you know, like a real human being does sometimes when she's frustrated.
The Ingalls? Not so much. When Caroline and Charles "disagreed," it lasted for three seconds and without any raised voices. My mother sometimes tried to convince me that I should be more like Laura, without noticing the TV Ingalls children were always doing really dumb things that I would never dream of doing (especially Albert, the little hooligan). The perfectly patient Ingalls parents always knew exactly why their children were going off the rails and always said exactly the right thing at the right time, before suggesting that the offender go fishing. (Would it have killed these kids to be sent to their rooms from time to time?)
The Ingalls? Not so much. When Caroline and Charles "disagreed," it lasted for three seconds and without any raised voices. My mother sometimes tried to convince me that I should be more like Laura, without noticing the TV Ingalls children were always doing really dumb things that I would never dream of doing (especially Albert, the little hooligan). The perfectly patient Ingalls parents always knew exactly why their children were going off the rails and always said exactly the right thing at the right time, before suggesting that the offender go fishing. (Would it have killed these kids to be sent to their rooms from time to time?)
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| Nellie being horrible to Andy. Not my favourite episode. Source. |
Which I guess is why Andy Garvey, and not any of the Ingalls, is my favourite Little House kid. Although, here's what my young self learned from Andy: It's perfectly acceptable to lie to your parents if you're willingly cooking up a ridiculous scheme with the Ingalls children (Lake Kezia Monster), but not if you're being manipulated by the mean girl in town against your own better judgement (The Cheaters). Either way, everybody needs a friend like Andy.
Were/are you a Little House fan? Do you identify more with the sidekick than the main character in your favourite TV shows? Are you ready for me to get back into the routine of class and homework so I'll stop watching so much TV?
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