This is the book that I just finished reading to our 5-year-old. I can't believe that she just started kindergarten, it seems like she was just born. I loved reading this series as a child, our 10 year-old loves these books also. I think it's pretty fun to be able to read these books to our youngest child. Laura and Mary are 2 little girls that live with their parents in the Big Woods. Laura is the youngest and her hair is brown, Mary is the oldest and her hair is golden. Laura is jealous of Mary's hair and also that Mary is the oldest and gets all the wonderful things that Laura wants. One of my favorite parts of this story has always been the part about Christmas. Christmas now is so overblown, Laura and Mary's Christmas was a very simple day. All the girls and boys were given an orange, oranges back then were a luxury. But Laura was given a rag doll, she had only had a corn cob for a doll before Christmas, but Mary had a rag doll that she would sometimes let Laura hold. So amazing the joy one simple homemade rag doll can bring. I love to read about how life was for Laura and Mary. I enjoy reading about making maple sugar and syrup and how big of an adventure it was to go into town. Life was much simpler then. I really like that these books are based on Laura's life.