Laura's Album: A Remembrance Scrapbook

Little House on DVD  available from Amazon.com

Laura Ingalls Wilder Country: The People and places in Laura Ingalls Wilder's life and books

and "On the Way Home," a series bridging book...

These are the original books in the Little House phenomena, and are the best of the lot. They contain a flavor and sense of the era that none of the more recent books can give. Shining through the hard times, and poverty, is the sheer joy of life, and the pride and self-worth, that surpass any troubles.

Rose's books are not "Little House" books, but stand alone and add to the feel of the people and times in which Laura lived. Rose draws on the experiences of both her parents and grandparents in writing her books. "On the Way Home" is a bit tersely written, being a diary account, not a story, but provides an important story bridge and example of Laura at that time.

Roger Lea MacBride knew Rose well and had access to her papers, so the content of these stories is reasonably authentic. The writing isn't as fluid as Laura's originals, but is okay. The book series starts off a bit slowly and uneventfully, particularly in the third and fourth books, but improves and is quite good, though sometimes uneven, in the later books.

"West From Home" and "Little House in the Ozarks: The Rediscovered Writings" are collections of letters, articles, and essays Laura wrote in the 1910s and 1920s. Both are very enjoyable reading and recommended not only as books that continue Laura's story, but also as shining examples of her writing style and abilities that pre-date the "Little House series."

The Caroline series is a recent, and still-growing, addition to the "Little House" saga of stories. These are the tales of Laura's mother growing up in the wilds of Wisconsin. Apparently based on stories told in family letters, the books are based in reality but individual events are heavily fictionalized. Often slow-moving they nevertheless fill in many story elements.

These two series are sometimes mockingly referred to by some, myself included, as "Little House in the Ice Age" as one wonders how far back the publishers are willing to go with these new book series. I admit I have not read them, so read the Amazon.com reader reviews to gain a better opinion of their worth as additions to the Little House saga.

Little House (9 Books, Boxed Set)
by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Garth Williams (Illustrator) All the books of the original series together in a boxed set. Also available individually.

Free Land

by Rose Wilder Lane, Laura's daughter, tells an alternate version of the early years in DeSmet in a fiction story that combines the experiences of her parents and grandparents. Many of the incidents in this book are real but were omitted from Laura's books. "Free Land" is darker and harsher than Laura's books; more of an adult story. It's well worth reading but don't expect another "Little House" book out of it. (fiction)

 Young Pioneers

by Rose Wilder Lane

Originally published as "Let the Hurricane Roar." This book by Laura's daughter, Rose, takes the experiences of her parents, Laura and Almanzo Wilder, and those of her grandparents, Charles and Caroline Ingalls, and blends them into the story of a young couple setting off to pioneer on the prairies. Molly is only 16, and her new husband David is 18 when they set out alone to make their lives, farm, and new home. There are shades of Laura's "Little House on the Prairie" and "On the Banks of Plum Creek" in this short but well-done book. It's well worth reading but don't expect another "Little House" book out if it--Rose had her own distinctive writing style and this book, like her "Free Land," is more of an adult's story than a children's book.

This book was made into two quite good made-for-tv movies:

Young Pioneers, vhs, 1976

&

Young Pioneers Christmas, vhs, 1976

A book filling in lost years in Iowa...

Old Town in the Green Groves: Laura Ingalls Wilder's Lost Little House Years
by Cynthia Rylant (fiction)

A series bridging book...

On the Way Home

This is Laura's diary account of their trip from DeSmet, South Dakota to Mansfield, Missouri in a covered wagon and their early days finding and settling at Rocky Ridge farm. This book serves as the bridge between the original Little House book series by Laura Ingalls Wilder and the later series by Roger Lea MacBride about her daughter Rose's life as a child in Missouri.

Little House on Rocky Ridge

Laura, Almanzo and young daughter Rose travel to Mansfield, Missouri to settle on Rock Ridge farm. They face hard times, with no money, little to eat, and rough land to tame.

West from Home: Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder, San Francisco 1915
by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Roger Lea MacBride (Editor)

Laura spent some time in San Francisco visiting her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane. These are letters she wrote back home to Almanzo in Mansfield, Missouri. They are very entertaining reading, showing Laura's spirit, charm, and witty observations.

Little House in the Ozarks: The Rediscovered Writings

by Laura Ingalls Wilder, edited by Stephen W. Hines

A wonderful collection of Laura's writings--for a review and excepts, follow this link

Copies can also be found used from the booksellers at ABEBOOKs.

Another Laura/Rose combo...

 A Little House Sampler: Laura Ingalls Wilder and Rose Wilder Lane

More of Rose Wilder Lane's books...

 Old Home Town

by Rose Wilder Lane

Travels With Zenobia: Paris to Albania by Model t Ford
by Rose Wilder Lane, Helen Dore Boylston (Photographer)

Islam and the Discovery of Freedom
by Rose Wilder Lane, Imad-Ad-Dean Ahmad (Editor)

Little House in Brookfield

Caroline Quiner, who will be Laura Ingalls Wilder's mother, is a young girl in the woods of Brookfield, Wisconsin. Her father has died at sea and the family is left penniless, struggling to survive.

Little House by Boston Bay

Charlotte Tucker, who becomes Laura Ingalls Wilder's grandmother (we first met her in "Little House in the Big Woods", and again in the Caroline series), is born in 1809.

Little House in the Big Woods

Laura as a young girl in the Big Woods of Wisconsin.

Little Farm in the Ozarks

Rose's adventures as a farm girl with poor fiend Swiney and wealthy town friend Blanche.

Little Town at the Crossroads

The town of Brookfield grows, as does Caroline.

On Tide Mill Lane

Charlotte's girlhood life during the War of 1812.

Farmer Boy

Almanzo Wilder, who grew up to become Laura's husband, as a nine-year-old farm boy in the 1860s in rural New York state.

In the Land of the Big Red Apple

1896-1896, times improve for the family

Little Clearing in the Woods

Caroline's family leaves Brookfield for Concord, Wisconsin and meets here future step-father.

The Road from Roxbury

Charlotte at the end of the War of 1812.

Little House on the Prairie

Laura and her family travel by covered wagon to the prairies of Indian Territory in southern Kansas.

On the Other Side of the Hill

Hard times come again for Wilders, but they persevere

On Top of Concord Hill

A cholera epidemic strikes the state.

Little House in the Highlands

Martha Morse, Laura's great-grandmother as a girl in Scotland in the 1780s.

On the Banks of Plum Creek

Laura's family settles into a dugout house by Plum Creek in southern Minnesota.

Little Town in the Ozarks

The family moves to town in a house by the railroad tracks.

Across the Rolling River

Caroline meets Charles Ingalls, who is destined to be her husband and Laura's father.

The Far Side of the Loch

Martha's life in Scotland at age 7.

On the Shores of Silver Lake

Moving on westward yet again, Laura's family are the first permanent settlers at DeSmet, Dakota Territory, alone on the prairie during the first winter.

New Dawn on Rocky Ridge

Best of the series for the touching scene in DeSmet of Laura going to her Pa's deathbed.

Little City by the Lake

15-year-old Caroline leaves home to travel to her aunt's and uncle's home in Milwaukee.

Down to the Bonny Glen

Martha and her governesses.

The Long Winter

Months of blizzards cut off the starving town to DeSmet as Laura's family struggles to survive.

On the Banks of the Bayou

Laura may not have liked Almanzo's sister Eliza Jane, but Rose does and goes to Louisiana to live with Eliza Jane and attend high school.

Beyond the Heather Hills

Martha travels to the Scottish city of Perth.

Little Town on the Prairie

Laura works and studies as both she and the town grow.

Bachelor Girl

Rose is grown and moves to San Francisco, working as a telegrapher. She meets her future husband.

These books can also be found at the booksellers at ABEBOOKS.com:

These Happy Golden Years

A young lady, Laura is courted by future husband, Almanzo Wilder.

The First Four Years

Years of sunshine and shadow as Laura and Almanzo struggle through the early years of their marriage.

This book series was the basis of the TV series "Little House on the Prairie"

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