Features
Little House on the Prairie Gift Guide
While the Ingalls family didn’t have many possessions, they delighted in selecting or making thoughtful gifts for each other. We celebrate that giving spirit with our Little House on the Prairie Gift Guide, which we update frequently. Below you will find seven unique...
Cranberry Jelly Inspired by Little House on the Prairie
Laura did not need to be called next morning. She was up at dawn, and all day she helped Ma bake and stew and boil the good things for next day’s Christmas dinner. Early that morning Ma added water and flour to the bread sponge and set it to rise again. Laura and...
Thanksgiving and Laura Ingalls Wilder
When you think of Thanksgiving, pioneer Laura Ingalls Wilder is probably not the first image that comes to mind, but maybe it should be. Most of the traditions that we associate with Thanksgiving, including tracing it back to the Pilgrims, began with the pioneers and...
Watch & Learn
DIY Maple Sugar Candy
At last, as Grandma stirred, the syrup in the saucer turned into little grains like sand, and Grandma called: ‘Quick girls! It’s graining!’ Aunt Ruby and Aunt Docia and Ma left the dance and came running. They set out pans, big pans, and little pans, and as fast as...
Let’s Get Reading
My Little House Crafts Book Review
If you’ve always thought it would be fun to try a homemade craft from the Little House books, or if you are the type of person who just enjoys crafting in general, you will love this book. The 18 projects cover a variety of age ranges and skill levels from quick-and-easy air castles, to Bear Claw quilt block pillows. Some of the crafts may require materials that seem unusual to us today, such as willow bough trimmings or colorful wool fabric, but you can source most of the materials at a local craft store, if not outdoors in your backyard.
Becoming Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Woman Behind the Legend
Although generations of readers of the Little House books are familiar with Laura Ingalls Wilder’s early life up through her first years of marriage to Almanzo Wilder, few know about her adult years. Going beyond previous studies, Becoming Laura Ingalls Wilder focuses upon Wilder’s years in Missouri from 1894 to 1957. Utilizing her unpublished autobiography, letters, newspaper stories, and other documentary evidence, John E. Miller fills the gaps in Wilder’s autobiographical novels and describes her sixty-three years of living in Mansfield, Missouri.
Family Fun
Homemade Dipped Beeswax Candles
“Laura felt a warmth inside her. It was very small, but it was strong. It was steady, like a tiny light in the dark, and it burned very low but no winds could make it flicker because it would not give up.” —The Long WinterNothing says “pioneer living” quite like...
Little House Ink and Envelopes
One of the greatest things about reading the Little House books with children is introducing topics such as resourcefulness and conservation. Items like pens and blank paper were luxuries not readily available to the Ingalls family. Homemade Ink & Envelopes Often,...
How to Create the Green Yarn from “Christmas at Plum Creek”
One of my favorite “Little House on the Prairie” television episodes is “Christmas at Plum Creek.” If you’re a fan, then I’m sure that you remember it, too. It’s the episode where Ma, Pa, Mary, Laura, and Carrie face the challenge of finding a way to give each other...
Little House History
Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Artistic Development
As a child, I loved many children’s book characters—Louisa May Alcott’s Jo, Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Anne, and Maud Hart Lovelace’s Betsy—because, like me, they wanted to be writers.[1] But it never occurred to me that the Little House series also tells a story of...
Dr. George A. Tann, Pioneer Physician and Neighbor to the Ingalls
Some of you may recall the doctor who helped the Ingalls family when they fell ill in Chapter 15, “Fever ‘N’ Ague” of Little House on the Prairie. He was based on George A. Tann, a pioneer, physician, and neighbor of the Ingalls family. We are excited to explore the...
All Things TV
Ten Times Nellie Gets What She Deserves
Why don't you make a SHORT cake? How 'bout some SHORT ribs? Do we need any SHORTening? You know, you really oughta write a book - SHORT cuts to cooking! —Nellie Oleson, He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not, Part 1One of our favorite dynamics on "Little House on the Prairie"...
The Television Mini-Series
In 2005 The Wonderful World of Disney aired a mini-series based on the Little House on the Prairie book and produced by ABC/Touchstone Television in association with Ed Friendly. Katie Ford wrote the teleplay. David Cunningham directed the mini-series, which starred...
Little House on the Prairie Cinnamon Chicken
In a classic episode of “Little House on the Prairie,” (Back to School Part 2, Season 6, Episode 2) Laura offers to cook dinner for a special date between Nellie and the handsome bachelor in town, Almanzo Wilder. Nellie’s not the only one with her eye on Almanzo, so...
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