Our Recommended Reading for Children & Young Adults and Recommended Reading for Adults articles have been popular resources for readers interested in Laura Ingalls Wilder and Little House on the Prairie. Here is a brief overview of In the Land of the Big Red Apple.

Buy Now!

Author: Roger Lea MacBride
Illustrator: David Gilleece
Publisher: HarperCollins (April 15, 1995)

Synopsis:
Eight going on nine, Rose Wilder is beginning to settle into her new life in Missouri, the Land of the Big Red Apple. Her father is building their farmhouse and she dreams of the day they’ll have their own bright crop to harvest. But before that can happen, she has a fierce ice storm to contend with and her first real Christmas in the Ozarks to enjoy.

About the Author: Roger Lea MacBride
Roger Lea MacBride, the “adopted grandson” and heir of Rose Wilder Lane, was born in New Rochelle, New York, in 1929.  His father, Burt MacBride, was an editor for Reader’s Digest when Rose wrote for the magazine, and he introduced his teenage son to the author.  Roger loved to listen to Rose’s stories and political theories, and the two became close.  MacBride received the rights to the Little House books upon Rose’s death in 1968.

In 1971, he had Laura’s manuscript of The First Four Years published, and in 1974, he edited her letters to Almanzo in 1915 and published them as West From Home: Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder, San Francisco 1915. In Rose Wilder Lane: Her Story he used her letters and diaries as source material to create a semi-autobiographical account of her life. A continuation of the Little House series with Rose as the main character has been published under the name of Roger Lea MacBride.

MacBride provided some input into this fictionalized series, which includes: Little House on Rocky Ridge, Little Farm in the Ozarks, In the Land of the Big Red Apple, On the Other Side of the Hill, Little Town in the Ozarks, New Dawn on Rocky Ridge, On the Banks of the Bayou, and Bachelor Girl. He was also an active participant in the creation of the television shows “Little House on the Prairie” and “Young Pioneers.”

About the Illustrator: David Gilleece
David Gilleece is an illustrator and freelance photographer who created the illustrations for all of the Rocky Ridge series titles.  He obtained his BFA in fashion design and illustration at the Fashion Institute of Technology (New York City), and studied fine art and illustration at the Art Students League and School of Visual Arts, also in New York City.  He works for Winans Kuenstler Publishing, LLC, in Doylestown, Pennsylvania where he currently lives.

Pick up your own copy of In the Land of the Big Red Apple here.

Check out our Recommended Reading for Adults and Recommended Reading for Children & Young Adults for more great books.