Pioneer Girl: The Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder

by William Anderson, Dan Andreasen (Illustrator)

Overview

The pioneer spirit of the Little House series lives on in this picture book biography perfect for young readers! This picture book is an excellent choice to share during homeschooling, in particular for children ages 4 to 6. It’s a fun way to learn to read and as a supplement for activity books for children.

Readers around the world know and love Laura, the little girl born in the Big Woods of Wisconsin and raised in covered wagons and on wide open prairies. Now Little House fans can learn more about the remarkable story of the pioneer girl who would one day immortalize her adventures in the beloved Little House books in this, the first picture book biography book of Laura Ingalls Wilder.

With simple, glowing text by noted historian and Little House scholar William Anderson, and beautiful paintings by Dan Andreasen, Pioneer Girl is a very special portrait of a writer whose classic books and pioneer adventures have made her one of the most popular literary figures in America.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780064462341
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	02/02/2000
Series:	Little House Nonfiction
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.12(d)
Lexile:	AD980L (what's this?)
Age Range:	6 - 10 Years

About the Author

William Anderson is a historian, educator, and author of twenty-five books of biography, travel, and history. His groundbreaking research on Laura Ingalls Wilder and her books led to many HarperCollins titles, including Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Biography, Laura Ingalls Wilder Country, and A Little House Sampler. He has also written for Travel & Leisure, the Saturday Evening Post, the Christian Science Monitor, and many other national magazines. Anderson is a frequent speaker at conferences, schools, and libraries. He makes his home in Michigan.

Dan Andreasen has illustrated many well-loved books for children, including River Boy: The Story of Mark Twain and Pioneer Girl: The Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder, both by William Anderson, as well as many titles in the Little House series. He lives with his family in Medina, Ohio.

Editorial Reviews

Laura Ingalls Wilder's many fans will delight in this inviting biographical overview in a picture-book format, graced by Andreasen's dreamy landscapes, glowing prairie skies and warm character portraits. In clear, workmanlike prose, Wilder historian Anderson (The Little House Guidebook) begins with Laura's birth in 1867 in a log cabin in Wisconsin and chronicles her many childhood adventures (moving with her family by covered wagon to the Kansas prairie, later to a sod dugout at Plum Creek, Minn., and on to the Dakota territory) and continues with the hardships and uncertainties of homesteading, marriage, births and deaths, and of a writing career that blossomed when Wilder was in her 60s. Anderson tells of a life that was fascinating for its sheer span (from covered wagons to automobiles) and a woman admirable for her pluck and determination. Though younger readers will have to read Wilder's novels to fill in the details of her daily life, this broad-strokes approach serves well as an introduction or reference in a pleasing visual format (including oversized type); one that early chapter-book readers will find inviting. Put this on the shelf right next to Little House in the Big Woods. Ages 7-up. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Gr 2-4An overview of Wilder's life accompanied by idealized illustrations that may blur the line between the facts and the fantasy presented by the TV series. Anderson touches on significant events: the places Laura settled with her family as a child and glimpses of everyday life; her marriage and adult life with Almanzo Wilder; and her work as an author. Andreasen's paintings, romantically rendered in warm tones, do provide period details, but often idealize the stark realities mentioned in the text. Readers old enough to be interested in Wilder will find this to be an adequate introduction but may find greater satisfaction in one of the numerous biographies that include some of the many photos of Laura and relics from her life, as well as a time line of her journeys. Her many fans will also appreciate Kathryn Lasky and Meribah Knight's Searching for Laura Ingalls (S & S, 1993), in which young Meribah Knight travels with her family to places featured in Wilder's books. Susan M. Moore, Louisville Free Public Library, KY

School Library Journal