By The Shores of Silver Lake

Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Artistic Development

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 artistic development. Especially in the later books, Wilder focuses on the...

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Pa’s Fiddle: Now Is Now

Pa’s Fiddle: Now Is Now

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...

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