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Impact & Influence |
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With almost no formal writing training, Wilder astounds many with her storytelling skill — some believe she might have begun paying particular attention to detail when her sister Mary went blind at age fourteen, and Pa told her she would now serve as Mary's eyes. Later Wilder held positions as a columnist and editor for the Missouri Ruralist, which helped polish her writing, and sold a few columns and essays to national publications. She didn't begin writing the Little House books until the 1930s, prompted by the deaths of her mother, her sister Mary, economic hard times and the encouragement of her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane. Lane was a celebrated author herself and some have speculated about the extent of her role in the writing of Wilder's tales. Wilder's books were widely popular — five won the Newbery Honor. Beloved for their captivating portrayal of pioneer life in America, the Little House books continue to sell worldwide in 40 languages.
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Biography |
A true pioneer at heart, Laura Ingalls was born in a log cabin in 1867 near Pepin, Wisconsin, and eventually crisscrossed her way across the Midwest. At two years old, she and her family moved to the wild territory of Kansas, where her famous book, Little House on the Prairie, is set. A few years later, they moved to Walnut Grove, Minnesota, where they lived in a dugout along the banks of Plum Creek before Charles Ingalls, known to Wilder as "Pa," built the family a two-story house. Always on the move, the Ingalls soon set out again to run a hotel in Burr Oak, Iowa, only to move a few years later to De Smet, South Dakota. Here, at 13 years old, Wilder finished school, started her first teaching job at 15, and married homesteader Almanzo Wilder at 18. The two later lived for a year with the Wilder family near Spring Valley, Minnesota, and eventually settled in Mansfield, Missouri. Through hard times, Wilder raised their daughter, penned her stories of life on the prairie and died in 1957.
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Major Works |
Little House in the Big Woods (1932)
Farmer Boy (1933)
Little House on the Prairie (1935)
On the Banks of Plum Creek (1937)
By the Shores of Silver Lake (1939)
The Long Winter (1940)
Little Town on the Prairie (1941)
These Happy Golden Years (1943)
On the Way Home (1962, published posthumously)
The First Four Years (1971, published posthumously)
West From Home (1974, published posthumously)
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Scholarly Works |
Becoming Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Woman Behind the Legend, John E. Miller
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Audio/Video |
Sorry, none available at this time.
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Laura Ingalls Wilder
Hometown:
Pepin, Wisconsin
February 7, 1867 -
February 10, 1957
Minnesota Ties:
Lived in Walnut Grove and Spring Valley, Minnesota
Education:
Didn't complete her high school education, but earned a teacher's certificate in 1882
Known for:
The Little House series
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