Books for Researchers of Little House & Laura Ingalls Wilder
Here is a collection of books (some now out of print and/or hard to find) that are of interest to those fans looking to learn about Laura, her family and the Little House books in much more detail.
Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder
This book captures the essence of who Laura Ingalls Wilder was, using many of the writings Laura left unpublished to fill in the gaps between the fictionalized version of her life told through the Little House books and the historically accurate version of what really happened. This book won numerous awards including a Pulitzer for Biography.
Before Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote the Little House books, she wrote Pioneer Girl about her time growing up on the frontier. It has more information that had been left out of the original Little House books, as Pioneer Girl was targeted towards a more adult audience.
The cover is beautiful and the story inside is absolute gold
The book gives new insight into what was true and what was fiction in the series
It belongs on the shelves of every Laura Ingalls Wilder fan
The gorgeous artwork makes this a stunning piece on coffee tables or book shelves
Every page turned will take you back to your childhood
The Beautiful Snow: The Ingalls Family, the Railroads, and the Hard Winter of 1880-81
The events in The Hard Winter showed the resilience of Laura and her family during great hardship that the entire town of De Smet suffered over the winter of 1880-91. This book compares the fictionalized version Laura wrote about in the book with historical records from newspapers published at the time and other historical documents covering that winter.
Laura Ingalls Wilder, Farm Journalist: Writings from the Ozarks
Prior to writing the Little House books, Laura was a writer for the local Missouri Ruralist, where she wrote about every day life on her farm at Rocky Ridge. This collection of articles is annotated with additional details that fans and researchers of Laura will find interesting.
344 Pages - 04/30/2008 (Publication Date) - University of Missouri (Publisher)
The Selected Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder
Laura was an avid letter writer, which is how she maintained connections with her family as they traveled around the country. Many of these letters have never been seen before, as they were both from museums as well as from personal collections. Includes memories of her earlier life as well as of the times they were written.
Although this was published many years ago, it is a great book for those wanting to deep dive into research about Laura and her life, as the annotations offer plenty of opportunity for fans to go even deeper into their specific topics about Laura’s life by following the many annotations to more resources, such as out of print books or scholarly articles published in literary journals.
The cover is beautiful and the story inside is absolute gold
The book gives new insight into what was true and what was fiction in the series
It belongs on the shelves of every Laura Ingalls Wilder fan
The gorgeous artwork makes this a stunning piece on coffee tables or book shelves
Every page turned will take you back to your childhood
Pioneer Girl Perspectives: Exploring Laura Ingalls Wilder
This book contains a collection of writings from top Laura Ingalls Wilder scholars and researchers. Each individual essay focuses on a different aspect of the books or her life.
317 Pages - 05/01/2017 (Publication Date) - South Dakota Historical Society Press (Publisher)
Becoming Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Woman behind the Legend
One of the first in-depth books looking at the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder from a historian’s perspective, this book was originally published with information that was previously unknown to Laura fans.
The World of Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Frontier Landscapes that Inspired the Little House Books
This collection is more focused on the frontier itself as Laura knew it from childhood through to her life on Rocky Ridge Farm. Includes archival maps and information on the types of specific crops they grew, this book gives a deeper understanding of their life on the land. Features illustrations by both Helen Sewell and Garth Williams, it also includes numerous historical and current day photographs.
A Little House Traveler: Writings from Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Journeys Across America
While many are familiar with the collection of letters published as both On the Way Home and West From Home, Laura was an avid writer while she traveled. This collection contains letters Laura wrote in those two collections, as well as the letters she wrote as The Road Back, which recounts the trip Laura and Almanzo took when they returned to De Smet for a visit in 1931.
Laura’s Album: A Remembrance Scrapbook of Laura Ingalls Wilder
Photos, drawings, letters, documents and more from throughout the life of Laura and her family. While some of the photos will be familiar to Little House fans, many of them are seen for the first time in this scrapbook.
Little House, Long Shadow: Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Impact on American Culture
This book is on the cultural impact of Laura’s Little House books. It does not include as much new information specific to Laura’s life, but it is an interesting look at how these books were both shaped by the culture at the time, as well as how the books shaped it.
360 Pages - 05/21/2008 (Publication Date) - University of Missouri (Publisher)
Laura: The Life of Laura Ingalls Wilder
Here mostly for nostalgic purposes, this book is the first popular biography about Laura Ingalls Wilder, published due to the popularity of the Little House on the Prairie TV show.
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