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Laura Ingalls Wilder Little House on the Prairie Definitive Guide

Laura Ingalls Wilder & the Little House Books

Home » Laura Ingalls Wilder Research Corner » Books for Researchers of Little House & Laura Ingalls Wilder

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.

Contents

  • 1 Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder
  • 2 Pioneer Girl: An Annotated Autobiography
  • 3 The Beautiful Snow: The Ingalls Family, the Railroads, and the Hard Winter of 1880-81
  • 4 Laura Ingalls Wilder, Farm Journalist: Writings from the Ozarks
  • 5 The Selected Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder
  • 6 Pioneer Girl: An Annotated Biography
  • 7 Pioneer Girl Perspectives: Exploring Laura Ingalls Wilder
  • 8 Becoming Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Woman behind the Legend
  • 9 Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little Town: Where History and Literature Meet
  • 10 The World of Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Frontier Landscapes that Inspired the Little House Books
  • 11 A Little House Traveler: Writings from Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Journeys Across America
  • 12 Laura’s Album: A Remembrance Scrapbook of Laura Ingalls Wilder
  • 13 Little House, Long Shadow: Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Impact on American Culture
  • 14 Laura: The Life of Laura Ingalls Wilder

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This book captures the essence of who Laura Ingalls Wilder was, using many of the writings Laura left unpublished to fill in the gaps between the fictionalized version of her life told through the Little House books and the historically accurate version of what really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.

Sale
Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder
Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder
  • Fraser, Caroline (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 656 Pages - 08/07/2018 (Publication Date) - Picador (Publisher)
$20.49
Buy on Amazon

Pioneer Girl: An Annotated Autobiography

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.

Sale
Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography
Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography
  • 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
$33.76
Buy on Amazon

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.

The Beautiful Snow: The Ingalls Family, the Railroads, and the Hard Winter of 1880-81
The Beautiful Snow: The Ingalls Family, the Railroads, and the Hard Winter of 1880-81
  • Cindy Wilson (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 376 Pages - 02/07/2020 (Publication Date) - Beaver's Pond Press (Publisher)
$21.95
Buy on Amazon

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.

Laura Ingalls Wilder, Farm Journalist: Writings from the Ozarks (Volume 1)
Laura Ingalls Wilder, Farm Journalist: Writings from the Ozarks (Volume 1)
  • Hardcover Book
  • Laura Ingalls Wilder (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 344 Pages - 04/30/2008 (Publication Date) - University of Missouri (Publisher)
$55.41
Buy on Amazon

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.

The Selected Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Selected Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder
  • Anderson, William (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 432 Pages - 02/07/2017 (Publication Date) - Harper Perennial (Publisher)
$18.99
Buy on Amazon

Pioneer Girl: An Annotated Biography

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.

Sale
Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography
Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography
  • 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
$33.76
Buy on Amazon

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.

Sale
Pioneer Girl Perspectives: Exploring Laura Ingalls Wilder
Pioneer Girl Perspectives: Exploring Laura Ingalls Wilder
  • Hardcover Book
  • Nancy Tystad Koupal (ed.) (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 317 Pages - 05/01/2017 (Publication Date) - South Dakota Historical Society Press (Publisher)
$23.90
Buy on Amazon

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.

Becoming Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Woman behind the Legend (Missouri Biography Series) (Volume 1)
Becoming Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Woman behind the Legend (Missouri Biography Series) (Volume 1)
  • Miller, John E. (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 320 Pages - 01/31/2006 (Publication Date) - University of Missouri (Publisher)
$24.95
Buy on Amazon

Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little Town: Where History and Literature Meet

This book is a detailed account of the history of De Smet while Laura and her family resided there.

Sale
Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little Town: Where History and Literature Meet
Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little Town: Where History and Literature Meet
  • Used Book in Good Condition
  • Miller, John E. (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 220 Pages - 06/02/1994 (Publication Date) - Univ Pr of Kansas (Publisher)
$19.80
Buy on Amazon

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.

Sale
The World of Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Frontier Landscapes that Inspired the Little House Books
The World of Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Frontier Landscapes that Inspired the Little House Books
  • Hardcover Book
  • McDowell, Marta (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 390 Pages - 09/20/2017 (Publication Date) - Timber Press (Publisher)
$16.39
Buy on Amazon

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.

A Little House Traveler: Writings from Laura Ingalls Wilder's Journeys Across America (Little House Nonfiction)
A Little House Traveler: Writings from Laura Ingalls Wilder's Journeys Across America (Little House Nonfiction)
  • Wilder, Laura Ingalls (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 368 Pages - 01/25/2011 (Publication Date) - HarperCollins (Publisher)
$7.99
Buy on Amazon

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.

Laura's Album: A Remembrance Scrapbook of Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House Nonfiction)
Laura's Album: A Remembrance Scrapbook of Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House Nonfiction)
  • Hardcover Book
  • Anderson, William (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 80 Pages - 09/19/2017 (Publication Date) - HarperCollins (Publisher)
$21.99
Buy on Amazon

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.

Sale
Little House, Long Shadow: Laura Ingalls Wilder's Impact on American Culture
Little House, Long Shadow: Laura Ingalls Wilder's Impact on American Culture
  • Used Book in Good Condition
  • Hardcover Book
  • Fellman, Anita Clair (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 360 Pages - 05/21/2008 (Publication Date) - University of Missouri (Publisher)
$20.84
Buy on Amazon

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.

Laura: The Life of Laura Ingalls Wilder
Laura: The Life of Laura Ingalls Wilder
  • Zochert, Donald (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 256 Pages - 05/01/1977 (Publication Date) - William Morrow Paperbacks (Publisher)
$7.99
Buy on Amazon
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