Ever wonder about the events in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s life and the historical context surrounding her experiences? This section explores the major milestones in her personal and professional life and some related topics in literature, politics, science, and technology.
I met my first book crush when I was seven. He was handsome and courageous, driving Laura home every week from the depressing (and dangerous) Brewster’s house. He was quiet, but when he did speak, he always said the perfect thing. Almanzo Wilder was the multi-talented farmer boy who could brave a raging blizzard to save a starving...
Who is the real Laura Ingalls? Is she the smart, strong, and resourceful fictional character of the Little House books? Or is she the more mature and somewhat worldly Laura Ingalls of Pioneer Girl? Or perhaps she’s the character that actress Melissa Gilbert created in the “Little House on the Prairie” television series.And what about...
In 1942, literary agent George Bye received the final manuscript from a client he had reluctantly decided to represent twelve years earlier, an author whose first work, a memoir for adults, had left him uninspired. But she had found her voice as a children’s book writer, and Bye felt deeply moved and stirred by her eighth and final...
Ever wonder about the chronology of events in Laura’s life and the historical context surrounding her experiences? The two timelines below weave some of her major life events with interesting historical milestones in literature, politics, science, and technology.Interactive Timeline Below is the interactive timeline, which allows you to...
Imagine you are reading a book that you loved as a child, perhaps you are reading it to your young child, or that you are reading it for the very first time. You come across the words “the only good Indian was a dead Indian.” Do you put the book down in horror, shocked by the cultural insensitivity of the author? Do you decry the author...
Thanks to the cozy, warm, and affectionate portrayal of the Ingalls family across all kinds of media platforms around the world, many people think of Ma, Pa, Mary, Laura, Carrie, Grace, Almanzo, and even Jack the bulldog as part of their family. However, that raises the question of what version of the Ingalls family people relate to...
It was a faith that made one humble, and a little ashamed… Rose Wilder Lane, “The Children’s Crusade,” Good Housekeeping, November 1920.In the spring of 1920, not long after “The War to End War” staggered to its empty close, Rose Wilder Lane boarded the ship St. Paul in New York and steamed for Paris. Recently divorced, hungry for new...
Laura Ingalls Wilder traveled extensively throughout Wisconsin, Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota, Missouri, and beyond. We have compiled a list of the historic sites and museums related to Laura Ingalls Wilder and Little House on the Prairie, as well as other points of interest. Please click below to go directly to the listings in...
As a child, I learned my Bible lessons by heart, in the good old-fashioned way, and once won the prize for repeating correctly . . . verses from the Bible. —Laura Ingalls WilderI would never have written A Prairie Girl’s Faith: The Spiritual Legacy of Laura Ingalls Wilder if Spring Ridge School hadn’t consolidated with Oak Ridge school...
A farmer depends on himself, and the land and the weather. If you’re a farmer, you raise what you eat, you raise what you wear, and you keep warm with wood out of your own timber. You work hard, but you work as you please, and no man can tell you to go or come. You’ll be free and independent, son, on a farm. —Farmer Boy“Those who labor...
Rabbits stood up with paws dangling, long ears twitching, and their round eyes staring at Mary and Laura. —On the Banks of Plum CreekI’d like to suggest a thought experiment. Instead of categorizing Laura Ingalls Wilder as an American children’s author, think of her as a nature writer as well. Take her titles. The Little House books...
About Ed Friendly Ed Friendly was born in Manhattan on April 8, 1922. He spent his formative summers on a ranch in Idaho where he fell in love with horses and the American West. He served as an Army captain in the Pacific during World War II. After the war, he worked in New York in advertising, produced and directed radio and television...
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 real-life of Dr. George A. Tann.Late summer in the Midwest is hot,...
The Little House book series conveys messages about family, community, perseverance, courage, and a variety of values. The Ingalls family is no stranger to hardship, especially financial strain. Readers of the Little House books can see Pa Ingalls evolve from a young ambitious father to a mature patriarch regarding the family’s...
Laura Ingalls Wilder was a teacher, seamstress, farmer’s wife, journalist, farm loan administrator, and an author. It was her role as writer of the Little House books that brought her lasting fame. And another job. She was the first, but unofficial, tour guide at her home on Rocky Ridge Farm near Mansfield, Missouri.Readers of...
As a child who’d practically memorized the Little House book series, I was entranced by the idea of Laura Ingalls Wilder as an “untutored housewife,” whose fiction suddenly sprang to life fully formed when she was in her sixties. As an adult, I learned that the widespread notion that Wilder was a self-taught genius with no training as a...
In my younger years—with no husband in sight—I joked that whomever I married must be willing to take a honeymoon trip to all of the Little House sites. When I did find my own “beau,” he was, ironically, a farmer—quite a foreigner to this suburban Boston girl. Although love was the catalyst for relocating from my longtime New England...
I’d like to write to the folks in Wisconsin [Ma said to Pa] If you mail a letter now, they can write this winter, and then we can hear from them next spring. —Little House on the Prairie These words, read to my third grade classroom, made a lasting impression on me. I thought to myself: “The pioneers had to wait that long for a...
Caroline Lake Quiner Ingalls is known to Laura fans around the world simply as Ma. Her comforting presence was spread far beyond her own family circle by her featured place in the Little House books and the “Little House on the Prairie” TV show. In a way she has become everyone’s Ma; a comforting and cozy presence of reassurance in all...
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 the Victorians.Onion vs. Sage The most famous Laura Ingalls Wilder...
“Mother” was indeed a magic word to Laura Ingalls Wilder for, though Pa Ingalls occupies front-and-center attention in the Little House books, Ma is right there too, as the one who trained her daughters in domestic matters and educated them. It is a wonder that she lived to a ripe old age of 84, outliving Pa by twenty years. As his...
There are many different ways to be a Laura Ingalls Wilder fan. Some people research topics in depth. Some people wear a sunbonnet and buy a Charlotte doll. Some people try to get autographs from as many actors/actresses from the “Little House on the Prairie” TV show as they can. I’ve done some of all of those things, but the most...
Once upon a time, sixty years ago, a little girl lived in the Big Woods of Wisconsin, in a little gray house made of logs. —Little House in the Big WoodsScholars of myth, child psychology and literature as diverse as Joseph Campbell, Bruno Bettelheim and Marina Warner argue that, ultimately, the primary purpose of myth and fairy tale is...
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 artistic development. Especially in the later books, Wilder focuses on the...
Carrie Ingalls, born Caroline Celestia Ingalls on August 3, 1870, to Charles (“Pa”) and Caroline (“Ma”) Ingalls, is best known as the younger sister of Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the Little House on the Prairie books. Carrie is only a baby in the first book, Little House in the Big Woods, but her presence and interactions with...
Today we are excited to bring you an in-depth look at the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Homes in De Smet, South Dakota. This is part of our on-going series highlighting popular historic locations and sites related to Little House on the Prairie. If you are in the area during the summer, you will want to make sure to see the annual Laura...
For many of us, gardening is a hobby or even a passion. But there are many people leading perfectly satisfying lives without ever having a garden. It hasn’t always been this way. Gardening is depicted as a normal facet of life in the “Little House on the Prairie” television show and book series, because each settler needed a garden in...
In On the Banks of Plum Creek, Laura is reluctant to go to school for the first time, but Pa tells her she should appreciate the opportunity: “…it isn’t everybody that gets a chance to learn to read and write and cipher,” he says. Pa explains that education is important to the family. “Your Ma was a school-teacher when we met, and when...
When Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote the final scene in her last Little House book for young readers, she gave the closing lines to Pa’s fiddle and its music. Laura and Almanzo’s wedding day has come to a close and the young couple sits on the doorstep of their own little house. In her memory, Laura hears “the voice of Pa’s fiddle and the...
There are many different kinds of Laura fans. No matter what their specific interest, most fans love to “play Laura.” What better way to play Laura than with a party? There are several different ways to theme a Laura party. Today we’re going to look at how to host a Bring Your Own Bonnet party, a party on the prairie.Olde Thyme Party...