Little House in the Big Woods

April 1, 2001
They're Back! Everyone's favorite aardvark returns to celebrate a quarter-century of success in Arthur's Nose: 25th Anniversary Limited Edition by Marc Brown. As a prologue to this first story in which Arthur starred, Brown shows the evolution of his drawings of Arthur from 1976 to the present, along with a sidebar of "Fun Facts" (e.g., "D.W. has an imaginary friend named Nadine"), followed by a photo gallery of Brown's family with some pretty clear correlations between the author's relatives and Arthur's. Aspiring writers and artists also get a peek at the original manuscript and sketches for Arthur's Nose. (Little, Brown, $15.95 40p ages 4-8 ISBN 0-316-11884-2; Apr.) For story hour, Little House in the Big Woods: Special Read-Aloud Edition by Laura Ingalls Wilder, illus. by Garth Williams, expands its trim size (to 8 U x 10 7/8") and type size but retains the classic charcoal drawings and the famous tale of Laura and her pioneer family living in the Big Woods of Wisconsin.

Starred review from May 12, 2003
Wilder's classic autobiographical series about growing up in a pioneer family in the late 1800s makes its audio debut in the very capable hands of stage actress Cherry Jones. This first installment introduces the Ingalls family living in the seemingly endless wild woods of Wisconsin prior to their eventual move west (to Kansas and later Missouri). Tennessee-born Jones brings a subtle (never hokey) homespun sound and comfortable pace to her reading; listeners may well imagine gathering in front of the fireplace or around a campfire for one of her storytelling sessions. But what Jones does best here is use her voice to sustain an appropriate childlike point of view. Her performance invites listeners to join in Laura's adventures and see things as she does, even though the books are written in the third person. (With this approach, for example, Jones livens up the occasional descriptive passages that can be slow going for some readers of the novel.) Award-winning fiddler Paul Woodiel provides lively interludes of "Pa's fiddle music," a joyful sound that was purportedly a staple of the Ingalls home. Ages 8-up. (May)FYI:Wilder's
Little House on the Prairie and
On the Banks of Plum Creek are being simultaneously released on cassette and CD, also read by Jones.