#120 in Children’s books
The Long Winter
- 335
- Pages
- about 6 h
- Reading time
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Our view
“The Long Winter” turns a season of blizzards and hunger into a warm, steadying family story. Drawn from the winter Wilder herself turned fourteen in Dakota Territory, it follows the Ingalls family through the blizzards of 1880–1881, with part of the story seen through Almanzo Wilder’s eyes. Some readers think it would gain from being shorter and find stretches repetitive. Others say it puts their own worries in proportion.
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 Long Winter is an autobiographical children's novel written by Laura Ingalls Wilder and published in 1940, the sixth of nine books in her Little House series. It is set in southeastern Dakota Territory during the severe winter of 1880–1881, when she turned 14 years old.
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 WinterThis book
7.97.9 / 10 - Little Town on the Prairie
7.87.8 / 10 - These Happy Golden Years
7.87.8 / 10 - The First Four Years
7.67.6 / 10
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.8 across 130 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 47% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Children’s books average of 7.9. That is how 7.9 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 8.2 | 24 | 19% |
| Hardcover | 7.7 | 106 | 82% |
Frequently asked
What age is The Long Winter for?
The Long Winter 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 335 pages — longer than 81% of the ranked books in Children’s books.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Children’s books — with scores between 7.8 and 7.9, closest to this book.
