The first chapter in Little Town on the Prairie. It’s a short one, so short that it can hardly be considered a chapter at all. I can see why Laura wrote it this way though. It doesn’t say much, but it says everything.
I always liked the passage where Pa first asks, “How would you like to work in town, Laura?”
Laura draws such a clear picture with: “Grace’s blue eyes stared over the rim of her tin cup, Carrie’s teeth stayed bitten into a slice of bread, and Mary’s hand held her fork stopped in the air.” Along with Ma almost over-pouring Pa’s tea…Doesn’t Laura just perfectly paint a picture of the family sitting at the table enjoying their meal when Pa suddenly springs this surprise question on them, seemingly out of the blue?
Laura is setting the stage for the next three chapters. She loves the homestead and the chores, she loves the springtime after such a long hard winter, she loves being home with family. Laura does not want to work in town and she tells you why in the next chapters.
I would just like to add that one of the reasons that Little Town on the Prairie is one of my favorite of the Little House books is because things just seem to be looking up for the Ingalls family. After the dark, cold days of The Long Winter this book can’t help but start off on a positive note. The best thing is that it continues on throughout the book.
I look so forward to reading everyone else’s take on Little Town on the Prairie. That’s the best part of a read-along, don’t you think? You have read these Little House books over and over (and over and over 
) and you tend to see things a certain way. I love “reading” these books through someone else’s eyes.