These Happy Golden Years

These Happy Golden Years

Front dustjacket with Sewell illustration
Author	Laura Ingalls Wilder
Illustrator	Helen Sewell and Mildred Boyle Garth Williams (1953)
Country	United States
Series	Little House
Genre	Children's novel Family saga Western
Publisher	Harper & Brothers
Publication date	March 17, 1943
Media type	Print (hardcover)
Pages	299; 288 pp.
OCLC	2145915
LC Class	PZ7.W6461 Th
Preceded by	Little Town on the Prairie
Followed by	The First Four Years

These Happy Golden Years is an autobiographical children's novel written by Laura Ingalls Wilder and published in 1943, the eight of nine books in her Little House series – although it originally ended the series. The story is based on Laura's later adolescence near De Smet, South Dakota, featuring her short time as a teacher, beginning at age 15, and her courtship with Almanzo Wilder. It spans the time period from 1882 to 1885, when Laura and Almanzo marry.

Golden Years was a Newbery Honor book in 1944, as had the previous four Little House books.

As the story begins, Pa is taking Laura 12 miles from home in the dead of winter to her first teaching assignment at Brewster settlement. Laura, only 15 and a schoolgirl herself, is apprehensive as this is both the first time she has left home and the first school she has taught, but she is determined to complete her assignment and earn money to keep her sister Mary at her college for the blind in Iowa.

The weather is bitterly cold, and neither the claim shanty where Laura boards or the school house can be heated adequately. Some of the children Laura is teaching are older than Laura herself, and she has difficulty controlling them. Worse, Laura boards with the school superintendent and his unhappy wife, who does not hide her resentment of Laura. Soon Laura comes to dread living under their roof, particularly during the weekends when she cannot escape to school. Much to her surprise and relief, Almanzo Wilder begins driving the twenty-four miles to and from the school so that Laura can return home on weekends. With advice from Ma (a former schoolteacher herself), Laura is able to adapt and become more self-assured, and successfully completes the two-month assignment.

Laura is surprised when Almanzo continues to invite her out sleighing once she had returned home. Their relationship continues, even as Laura watches her school friends pairing up with beaux, accepting marriage proposals, and leaving school. Sleigh rides give way to buggy rides in the spring, and Laura impresses Almanzo with her willingness to help break his new and often temperamental horses. Meanwhile, Laura continues to study for her own education, remaining at the head of her classes while also takes odd jobs and another term of teaching in order to earn money for Mary's education. By the time Mary graduates and returns home, Laura's extra earnings have allowed the family to settle on their claim and begin a peaceful, prosperous life.