In Pioneer Girl, the original manuscript which would later become the beloved Little House book series, Laura mentions the book The Floweret, a book of verses, which she stated she received as a gift for her fifth birthday.
There is some confusion about which birthday, as the time frames were changed from when they occurred and when they were changed to fit the timeline of the Little House books (some of the events that happened in Little House in the Big Woods took place after Little House on the Prairie, as the Ingalls returned to Wisconsin after leaving Kansas, and did not go straight to Minnesota as the books implied.)
The book of verses was officially titled “The Floweret. A Gift of Love.” It was written by Anna Maria Wells, containing poems for young children, and was originally published in 1842 in Boston.
The book contained many short verses and some had small illustrations. It contained a total of twenty verses and was 71 pages long.
Here is one of the verses, The Butterfly, with an illustration.
This book was republished many times after its original publication, so it is not sure which print Laura received as a gift.
You can view the book here, or download it as PDF or ePub.
