#135 in Middle grade
The First Four Years
- 152
- Pages
- about 3 h
- Reading time
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Our view
“The First Four Years” is a short, honest coda to Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books, covering Laura’s early marriage to Almanzo Wilder. The hardships of farming life sit at its centre, and some readers find it bleak, even depressing, after the earlier books. It is best approached as an epilogue by readers who want to see the series through.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
The First Four Years is an autobiographical novel by Laura Ingalls Wilder, published in 1971 and commonly considered the last of nine books in the Little House series. The series had initially concluded at eight children's novels following Wilder to mature age and her marriage with Almanzo Wilder.
Reading order · Little House on the Prairie
Full order & progress →- Little House in the Big WoodsStart here
7.97.9 / 10 - Farmer Boy
7.97.9 / 10 - Little House on the Prairie
7.97.9 / 10 - On the Banks of Plum Creek
7.97.9 / 10 - By the Shores of Silver Lake
7.77.7 / 10 - The Long Winter
7.97.9 / 10 - Little Town on the Prairie
7.87.8 / 10 - These Happy Golden Years
7.87.8 / 10 - The First Four YearsThis book
7.67.6 / 10
Where the score comes from
The sources average 6.9 across 88 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 37% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Middle grade average of 8.0. That is how 7.6 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 7.4 | 18 | 21% |
| Hardcover | 6.8 | 70 | 80% |
Frequently asked
What age is The First Four Years for?
The First Four Years sits on the Children shelf in the sources we use, which by convention means roughly ages 5–10. This is a guide from the book’s category, not a publisher’s age rating. It has 152 pages — shorter than 91% of the ranked books in Middle grade.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Middle grade — with scores between 7.8 and 7.9, closest to this book.
