Little House Reader, A - Hardcover

Laura Ingalls Wilder

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 006026358X ISBN 13: 9780060263584

Publisher: HarperColl, 1998

Synopsis

Laura Ingalls Wilder, whose Little House books have delighted generations of readers, was a writer long before she ever recorded the adventures of her pioneer girlhood. She first began experimenting with words as a young girl in Dakota Territory, writing poetry about her beloved prairies, her sister Mary, and her courtship with Almanzo Wilder. Eventually, Laura and Almanzo married and settled in the Ozark Mountains, where Laura became a widely known and well-respected journalist, penning her thoughts on farming and the life of a farmwife. She also wrote private sketches about her family, politics, nature, and eternity.

Noted author and Little House historian William Anderson has delved deeply into the Ingalls and Wilder papers and has put together a unique medley of Laura's writings from the time before her Little House books. Culled mostly from fragile and yellowed pieces of paper, this moving collection offers a window into Laura's day-to-day life and experiences, giving us a richer understanding of the woman and writer famed for her Little House books.

Even before she wrote the Little House books, Laura Ingalls Wilder was an avid writer. She wrote both newspaper and magazine articles and spent many evenings on Rocky Ridge Farm jotting down her thoughts and memories. Noted Little House historian William Anderson has compiled these writings, some never before published, into a moving collection touching on everything from family and farm life to time and eternity. Both a testimonial and a tribute, this collection offers us a richer understanding of the woman and writer famed for her Little House books.

About this title

About the Author:

Laura Ingalls Wilder was born in 1867 in the log cabin described in Little House in the Big Woods. She and her family traveled by covered wagon across the Midwest. Later, Laura and her husband, Almanzo Wilder, made their own covered-wagon trip with their daughter, Rose, to Mansfield, Missouri. There, believing in the importance of knowing where you began in order to appreciate how far you've come, Laura wrote about her childhood growing up on the American frontier. For millions of readers Laura lives on forever as the little pioneer girl in the beloved Little House books.

Dan Andreasen has illustrated many well-loved books for children, including River Boy: The Story of Mark Twain and Pioneer Girl: The Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder, both by William Anderson, as well as many titles in the Little House series. He lives with his family in Medina, Ohio.

From Kirkus Reviews:

Anderson (A Little House Sampler, 1989, not reviewed, etc.) has collected occasional pieces, essays, and poems from Laura Ingalls Wilder's personal papers, written by her and by several members of her family, into a volume that shows how she ``bridged the gap from the henhouse to the publishing house,'' and that explores her social, philosophical, and religious ideas. Grouping selections thematically and decorating them with homey family photos, Anderson then cements the pieces with lengthy introductions that both fill in background as well as add links to the novels. His tone is often more earnest than Wilder's, whose juvenile verse--``I will leave this frozen region/I will travel further south/If you say one word against it/I will hit you in the mouth''--and broadly rustic characters (e.g., in a much later account of how the jail in Mansfield was burnt and rebuilt) have lost none of their humor. With few exceptions, everything here is either unpublished or appeared in local newspapers; fans of any age will find these reflections on a wide range of topics thoroughly enjoyable--and the prose and poetry from Wilder's mother and father, her three sisters, and daughter, a pleasant lagniappe. (Anthology. 10-14) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperColl
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 006026358X
• ISBN 13: 9780060263584
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 208
• Editor: William Anderson