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Laura Ingalls Wilder was an American author who was born in 1867 and was responsible for writing the books on which the Little House on the Prairie’ Television show was based. Born somewhere new Pepin in Wisconsin, Wilder’s family was always on the move and it took quite a few years of trekking before they settled down in South Dakota.
Order of Little House On The Prairie Series
| # | Read | Title | Published | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Little House in the Big Woods | 1932 | Description / Buy | |
| 2 | Farmer Boy | 1933 | Description / Buy | |
| 3 | Little House on the Prairie | 1935 | Description / Buy | |
| 4 | On the Banks of Plum Creek | 1937 | Description / Buy | |
| 5 | By the Shores of Silver Lake | 1939 | Description / Buy | |
| 6 | The Long Winter | 1940 | Description / Buy | |
| 7 | Little Town on the Prairie | 1941 | Description / Buy | |
| 8 | These Happy Golden Years | 1943 | Description / Buy | |
| 9 | The First Four Years | 1953 | Description / Buy |
Chronological Order of Little House On The Prairie Series
| # | Read | Title | Published | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Little House in the Big Woods | 1932 | Description / Buy | |
| 2 | Little House on the Prairie | 1935 | Description / Buy | |
| 3 | Farmer Boy | 1933 | Description / Buy | |
| 4 | On the Banks of Plum Creek | 1937 | Description / Buy | |
| 5 | By the Shores of Silver Lake | 1939 | Description / Buy | |
| 6 | The Long Winter | 1940 | Description / Buy | |
| 7 | Little Town on the Prairie | 1941 | Description / Buy | |
| 8 | These Happy Golden Years | 1943 | Description / Buy | |
| 9 | The First Four Years | 1953 | Description / Buy |
Order of Little House Chapter Books: Laura Series
| # | Read | Title | Published | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Adventures of Laura and Jack (Short Story) | 1997 | Description / Buy | |
| 2 | Pioneer Sisters (Short Story) | 1997 | Description / Buy | |
| 3 | Animal Adventures (Short Story) | 1997 | Description / Buy | |
| 4 | School Days (Short Story) | 1997 | Description / Buy | |
| 5 | Laura & Nellie (Short Story) | 1998 | Description / Buy | |
| 6 | Farmer Boy Days (Short Story) | 1998 | Description / Buy | |
| 7 | Little House Farm Days (Short Story) | 1998 | Description / Buy | |
| 8 | Hard Times on the Prairie (Short Story) | 1998 | Description / Buy | |
| 9 | Little House Friends (Short Story) | 1998 | Description / Buy | |
| 10 | Christmas Stories | 1998 | Description / Buy | |
| 11 | Laura's Ma (Short Story) | 1999 | Description / Buy | |
| 12 | Laura's Pa (Short Story) | 1999 | Description / Buy | |
| 13 | Laura & Mr. Edwards (Short Story) | 1999 | Description / Buy | |
| 14 | Little House Parties (Short Story) | 1999 | Description / Buy |
Order of My First Little House Picture Books
| # | Read | Title | Published | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | My First Little House Collections of Winter Tales | 1994 | Description / Buy | |
| 2 | Dance at Grandpa's (Short Story) | 1994 | Description / Buy | |
| 3 | Winter Days in the Big Woods (Short Story) | 1994 | Description / Buy | |
| 4 | Going to Town (Short Story) | 1995 | Description / Buy | |
| 5 | My Little House Diary | 1995 | Description / Buy | |
| 6 | The Deer in the Wood (Short Story) | 1995 | Description / Buy | |
| 7 | My Little House Songbook (Short Story) | 1995 | Description / Buy | |
| 8 | Happy Birthday, Laura | 1995 | Description / Buy | |
| 9 | Going West | 1996 | Description / Buy | |
| 10 | Laura's Garden | 1996 | Description / Buy | |
| 11 | My Little House Cookbook (Short Story) | 1996 | Description / Buy | |
| 12 | Laura Helps Pa | 1996 | Description / Buy | |
| 13 | Summertime in the Big Woods (Short Story) | 1996 | Description / Buy | |
| 14 | Hello, Laura | 1996 | Description / Buy | |
| 15 | Winter on the Farm (Short Story) | 1996 | Description / Buy | |
| 16 | My Little House Birthday Book | 1997 | Description / Buy | |
| 17 | My Little House 123 (Short Story) | 1997 | Description / Buy | |
| 18 | My Little House ABC (Short Story) | 1997 | Description / Buy | |
| 19 | Prairie Day (Short Story) | 1997 | Description / Buy | |
| 20 | A Little House Birthday (Short Story) | 1997 | Description / Buy | |
| 21 | County Fair (Short Story) | 1997 | Description / Buy | |
| 22 | A Little Prairie House (Short Story) | 1998 | Description / Buy | |
| 23 | Sugar Snow (Short Story) | 1998 | Description / Buy | |
| 24 | Laura's Christmas (Short Story) | 1998 | Description / Buy | |
| 25 | Laura's Little House | 1998 | Description / Buy | |
| 26 | Book of Animal Friends | 1998 | Description / Buy |
Order of Laura Ingalls Wilder Short Story Collections
| # | Read | Title | Published | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A Laura Ingalls Wilder Reader | 2012 | Description / Buy |
Order of Laura Ingalls Wilder Non-Fiction Books
| # | Read | Title | Published | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | On the Way Home (Short Story) | 1962 | Description / Buy | |
| 2 | Dear Laura | 1996 | Description / Buy | |
| 3 | Spelling (Short Story) | 1997 | Description / Buy | |
| 4 | Laura's Album (Short Story) | 1998 | Description / Buy | |
| 5 | Pioneer Girl | 2014 | Description / Buy | |
| 6 | The Selected Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder | 2016 | Description / Buy | |
| 7 | The Little House Book of Wisdom (Short Story) | 2017 | Description / Buy |
Order of Writings to Young Women from Laura Ingalls Wilder Series with Stephen W. Hines
| # | Read | Title | Published | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Writings to Young Women from Laura Ingalls Wilder: On Wisdom And Virtues (Short Story) | 2006 | Description / Buy | |
| 2 | Writings to Young Women from Laura Ingalls Wilder: On Life As a Pioneer Women (Short Story) | 2006 | Description / Buy | |
| 3 | Writings to Young Women on Laura Ingalls Wilder (Short Story) | 2006 | Description / Buy |
Order of Little House Chapter Books: Caroline Series with Roger Lea MacBride, Melissa Peterson
| # | Read | Title | Published | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | School Days | 1997 | Description / Buy | |
| 2 | Hard Times on the Prairie (Short Story) | 1998 | Description / Buy | |
| 3 | Brookfield Days (Short Story) | 1999 | Description / Buy | |
| 4 | Caroline and Her Sister (Short Story) | 2000 | Description / Buy | |
| 5 | Brookfield Friends (Short Story) | 2000 | Description / Buy | |
| 6 | Frontier Family (Short Story) | 2000 | Description / Buy | |
| 7 | A New Little Cabin (Short Story) | 2001 | Description / Buy |
Laura Ingalls Wilder Anthologies
| # | Read | Title | Published | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Driftless Reader | 2017 | Description / Buy |
Wilder became a teacher at the age of fifteen because her family was so stretched economically. This choice in career would go on to drive her path to marriage. Almanzo Wilder was a family friend that Laura’s parents often sent to accompany her back home for the weekend. And after quite a few wagon rides, the pair fell for one another. Marriage eventually pulled Wilder away from her teaching career and she eventually chose to devote her time to caring for her family.
Writing only came into the picture in the 1920s when, following encouragement from her daughter to write about her life, Laura Ingalls Wilder produced an autobiography. Unfortunately, ‘Pioneer Girl’ did not interest publishers and Wilder was forced to go back to the drawing board, rework her book and re-submit it as ‘Little House in the Big Woods.
That was in 1932. The Little House books have since become Laura Ingalls Wilder’s defining aspect. The children’s books explore Wilder’s life and the many memorable places she visited and lived. Wilder was lucky enough to have her daughter help her prepare her manuscripts, this allowing her to continue writing even after reaching her 70s.
Laura Ingalls Wilder died in 1957. Her daughter Rose continued to publish books under Wilder’s name, using the author’s diaries to produce the sorts of stories her fans had come to know her for.
Rose’s involvement in her mother’s work has since become a source of controversy. Many believe that Rose was responsible for the quality of the Little House books, taking her mother’s rough drafts and polishing them into something noteworthy. Of course, Laura Ingalls Wilder’s fans have always rejected these claims, suggesting that Wilder was simply one of those rare untutored geniuses.
Laura Ingalls Wilder Awards
Laura was a celebrated author during her lifetime, receiving numerous accolades for her contributions to Children’s literature. The author’s most notable award is the Newberry Prize.
Interestingly enough, Laura’s books were awarded the Newberry Honor retroactively, which isn’t surprising seeing as, by the time the Newberry Award was instituted, Laura had stopped writing.
Laura Ingalls Wilder Books into Movies/TV
The most successful adaptation of Laura’s work was ‘Little House on the Prairie’, a television show that run from 1974 to 1982 and which explored Laura’s life and struggles. The show starred Melissa Gilbert.
A lesser known adaptation is ‘Laura, The Prairie Girl’; this was a Japanese anime television show that ran from 1975 to 1976.
Fans of Wilder might also know of ‘Beyond the Prairie’, a pair of television movies that aired in 2000 and 2002, not to mention a Television Miniseries in 2005 simply called ‘Little House on the Prairie’ and even a musical adaptation back in 2010.
Best Laura Ingalls Wilder Books
Laura Ingalls Wilder built a legacy by writing a series of novels that have transcended time, with some of the best books in her bibliography including the following:
Little House in the Big Woods: Laura Ingalls lives a busy life in the woods of Wisconsin. With no neighbors to speak of, only trees and animals, Laura’s life is occupied by chores, though she still finds the time to go exploring with her sister.
The first book in the Little House series is an exploration of childhood in a time period most readers can barely comprehend. Laura Ingalls is just like any other child. However, even though she has little in the way of modern amenities, Laura still finds ways of experiencing the joy that the world has to offer.
Little House on the Prairie: Laura Ingalls and her family move to a new location on the prairie where they build a home and meet interesting neighbors.
The second book in the Little House series finds the Ingalls leaving the Big Woods of Wisconsin to go live in Kansas. This book delves into their mundane lives as they try to settle down and make this new place their home.
The book is filled with heartwarming moments about family and the simple life in a simple country. Like most Little House books, this one doesn’t have much of a plot. Readers are treated to a glimpse into the lives of the Ingalls as they build their home and try to overcome the dangers of living in their time.
When Does The Next Laura Ingalls Wilder book come out?
Laura Ingalls Wilder doesn't seem to have an upcoming book. Their newest book is The Little House Book of Wisdom and was released on February, 7th 2017. It is the newest book in the Laura Ingalls Wilder Non-Fiction Books.
I cannot recommend Wilder’s books enough to kids of all ages. I might have to pick one up for myself to re-read. She brilliantly captures her life as a child growing up in a much simpler time. Reading these as a kid made me appreciate all the things I take for granted! I was never a big fan of the TV show, but the books are amazing. All kids should read at least one of Wilder’s books.