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| Laura Ingalls Wilder |
Today, Kathy is writing about one of our nation's favorite midwestern writers, Laura Ingalls Wilder. Kathy reflects on her first encounter with Wilder's beloved "Little House" books and gives us a detailed background on the history behind the series.
“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…” began our third grade teacher, Mrs. Schrepfer on a cold, gray Monday in January. As she continued to read aloud to our class, I was transported from a 20th Century classroom, to the pioneer era of the Big Woods in Wiscons
in. Wolves,
wild cats, muskrats, mink, otter, bears, panthers, and fox roamed the vast,
wooded landscape. A log cabin inhabited by Pa,
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| The Ingall's Family Log Cabin |
Ma, Mary, Laura, and Carrie was
located at the edge of the enormous, dark forest. Near the cabin was a
wagon track that ran before the house, twisting and turning until it reached
the town of Pepin, Wisconsin. Life in the Big Woods was simple. Pa hunted, trapped, and farmed while Ma cooked, kept house, and took care of the children. Mary and
Laura would help Pa and Ma with their work. They carried wood chips to the
smoke house, dried the dishes, made up their trundle bed each day, and, with a
little help from Ma, made candy from maple syrup and snow. Christmas was a time
for fashioning homemade gifts, baking bread, crackers, pies, and cookies. It was
also a time to spend with loved ones who came to visit for the holiday. Sundays
were solemn, with the minutes ticking by slowly. Spring heralded the start of
the maple syrup season which concluded with a dance a grandpa’s home.
Summertime was for playing out of doors, while fall brought the wheat harvest. Jack Frost announced the arrival of winter while Pa’s fingers danced over the fiddle making music in the firelight. “She
was glad that the cozy house, and Pa and Ma and the firelight and the music,
were now. They could not be forgotten, she thought, because now is now. It can
never be a long time ago.” As Mrs. Schrepfer closed the book, she added that
the book, Little House in the Big Woods
was a historical fiction selection, based on the real life adventures of the author, Laura Ingalls Wilder.
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| Laura Ingalls Wilder's writing desk |
Laura Ingalls Wilder was born on February 7, 1867, in the
log cabin she would immortalize in her first novel, Little House in the Big Woods. Charles Ingalls, her father, was an
outgoing individual who loved reading and music. He was an accomplished farmer,
musician, hunter, and carpenter. Her mother, Caroline Ingalls, was a teacher
before marrying Charles. Caroline was a devoted wife, mother,
friend, and neighbor. Laura was one of four children. In her Little House books, Laura wrote
extensively about her siblings Mary, Carrie, and Grace. However, she did have a
younger brother named Charles, who died at the age of nine months. During
Laura’s childhood, her pioneer family moved through the states of Wisconsin,
Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, and South Dakota. Later in life, these moves would
provide the backbone for her pioneer stories. It is interesting to note that Laura’s childhood education was eclectic. She was educated at home by her mother, attended a local
school whenever possible, and practiced the discipline of self-education. In 1882, a fifteen-year-old Laura received her
teaching certificate. Her first teaching assignment was at a one room
schoolhouse located twelve miles from home. It was during this time that her
parents sent a family friend named, Alamanzo Wilder to bring her home for the
weekends. During their weekly wagon ride Laura and Almanzo developed a
friendship which blossomed into a courtship. On August 25, 1885, Laura and
Almanzo were married. Laura gave birth to a daughter named Rose in the winter
of 1886.
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| Laura and Almanzo as newlyweds |
1889-1890 was a year which brought one disaster after another for the
Wilder family. The death of an infant son, diphtheria which partially paralyzed
Almanzo, and the destruction of their home by fire were trials this pioneer
family faced. The next four years would find the Wilder’s drifting through
life. However, in 1894, Laura and Almanzo purchased a 200 acre farm in the
Ozarks which they named Rocky Ridge. Life at Rocky Ridge Farm consisted of
building the farmhouse, raising livestock and establishing Rocky Ridge as a
working farm.
It was during the Wilder’s farmsteading in the Ozarks that Laura began her career as a writer. She kept track of their
travels through South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas in a journal. The journal
entries were then submitted to the De Smet News for publication. Later, Laura’s
journal entries would be published as the book On the Way Home: The Diary of a Trip from South Dakota to Mansfield,
Missouri, in 1894. In the 1920’s through the encouragement of her daughter
Rose, Laura began to write the story of her childhood which was entitled Pioneer Girl. Although the manuscript
was submitted to various publishers, it was not accepted for publication. Rose
Wilder Lane saw the potential her mother’s book possessed. As a journalist and
novelist, she provided her mother with constructive criticism on how to improve
and expound on the manuscript of Pioneer
Girl. This mother-daughter collaboration resulted in the 1932 publication
of Laura’s first book, Little House in
the Big Woods which tells the story of the author’s childhood in Wisconsin.
The next book in the series, Farmer Boy, tells
the account of Almanzo’s childhood in New York State. Little House on the Prairie, On the Banks of Plum Creek, By the Shores
of Silver Lake, The Long Winter, Little Town on the Prairie, and These Happy
Golden Years were published subsequently. Originally, the Little House series was illustrated by
Caldecott nominee, Helen Sewell. In 1953, Garth Williams was commissioned to
create new illustrations for the Little
House books to coincide with the series reissue by Harper Collins
publishing. Laura was seventy-six years old when she finished writing the last
book in the Little House series. In
her later years, Laura remained at her beloved Rocky Ridge Farm with Almanzo.
It was here that both of them lived out their “happy golden years” together,
and where they both passed on from this world into the next.
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| The Ingalls Family |
Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little
House book series has been enjoyed by children of all ages for eighty-four
years. Her legacy is a first-hand narrative account of the westward movement
as seen through the eyes of a little girl named Laura. I know of no other series that gives a detailed account of this particular historical time period. As a
third grader, I was captivated not only by the storyline, but also by the
author’s style of writing. After our teacher would finish a book in the series,
I would check it out from the school library. As I re-read the story, I would
study the author’s characterization,
plot, theme, setting, atmosphere, mechanics, and writing quality. I would copy
portions of the story to get a feel for how Laura wrote. I would author my English
writing assignments emulating Laura’s narrative literary tone. My teacher even
remarked on one of my papers that “Your writing style is reflective of Laura
Ingalls Wilder’s. Keep up the good work!”
Since the first publication of Little House in the Big Woods in 1932, the Little House series has been on the best seller lists for
children’s literature. The books are available today in hardcover, paperback
and e-book formats. Many families, like ours, choose to visit the historical
sites and museums while reading through the series. http://littlehouseontheprairie.com/historic-locations-and-museum-sites/
After eight decades, you may wonder what special ingredient makes this series
still appealing to children and adults alike. I believe it is Laura’s comment
which provides us with the answer: “It is the sweet, simple things of life
which are the real ones after all.”
Thank you Kathy! Do you have any special Laura Ingalls Wilder memories. I'll never forget the time my dad was reading Little House on the Prairie aloud to me and my siblings and we read about the Ingalls' beloved dog Jack getting lost. We were all crying, even my dad. It was one of those special moments that are part of reading aloud as a family, where we're all feeling the same thing and learning empathy. What's your favorite Little House memory?
Our last read aloud for these past six weeks was The Trumpeter of Krakow. Oh wow did we love this book!!! It follows the story of a family in the Ukraine that has to travel to Krakow as refugees (a topic still relevant on the news today) and they just happen to be in possession of the philosopher’s stone. Of course the kids were shocked to discover that JK Rowling didn’t come up with the idea all her own!!! We discussed alchemy and the theory that whomever possessed the stone could turn other metals into gold. While we were reading about the alchemists in the story I pulled out The Mystery of the Periodic Table (by Benjamin D Wiker) and read the couple of chapters on alchemy to my crew.
