If you loved Wilder’s books, or if you garden with a child who loves her books, you will enjoy the read.”—The San Francisco Chronicle In this revealing exploration of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s deep connection with the natural world, Marta McDowell follows the wagon trail of the beloved Little House series. You’ll learn details about Wilder’s life and inspirations, pinpoint the Ingalls and Wilder … pinpoint the Ingalls and Wilder homestead claims on authentic archival maps, and learn to grow the plants and vegetables featured in the series. Excerpts from Wilder’s books, letters, and diaries bring to light her profound appreciation for the landscapes at the heart of her world. Featuring the beloved illustrations by Helen Sewell and Garth Williams, plus hundreds of historic and contemporary photographs, The World of Laura Ingalls Wilder is a treasure that honors Laura’s wild and beautiful life.
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This book was delightful, over my life I have read The Little House books 5 or 6 times. This book filled in the gaps that exist in Laura’s narrative because she was not writing an autobiography. The books are based on her experiences but things were left out and some people populating the pages are a combination of several real persons.
The telling of Laura’s life in Missouri was especially interesting and made me wish I has known her and Almonzo.
Well done!
This is a wonderful companion to the Little House Books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. This is a biography of the Ingalls/Wider families and their lives with an emphasis is on gardens, food and plants. The author goes through the series book by book and describes the landscape and plants. At the end of the book the author suggests your own road trip and how to plant similar gardens. The text is accompanied with wonderful photographs and historical photographs. You really feel like you are traveling along with the Ingalls/Wilder family and how they made each place a home. You will also be inspired to plant your own garden. This book will appeal to fans of the books but also to those interested in history and historic gardens and plants. Enjoy this armchair travel/gardening journey.
Landscapes from the Little House Books, up close, house by house. I was puzzled at why the author includes her own childhood and other stories, but still enjoyed learning how much influence the Wilders’ daughter Rose had in her mother’s research and writing, and indeed the Little House Books.
There is a chapter on visiting the Wilder gardens and one about growing your own garden using the same plants. There is a complete list of plants that Laura grew and was familiar with, a great section of recommended reading, comprehensive sources and citations, and even an index.
Excellent history & information on plant life as it relates to Laura Ingalls Wilder’s life. I learned so much reading this book. Last 25% of book contains appendix, bibliography, and index. What an enormous amount of research went into this book! Highly recommend, just for the history alone.
If you like Laura Ingalls Wilder, gardening and beautiful photos you will like this book!
Not what I expected. I really expected it to me more about Ms. Wilder when it was more about the flora and fauna of the areas she lived in. It was informative and entertaining, but I expected more about her. I suppose it left me with the thirst to read her biography, which I will read in due time. If you are interested in agriculture and how it shapes a region and its people (or just like to garden), this will be a great read for you.
Great background for Laura Ingals Wilder.
Surprisingly reminiscent of the stories I read as a child.
Delightful book for those familiar with the Laura Ingalls Wilder series written for youngsters. This is the true story of the pioneer’s family life, very thoroughly researched, with the bonus of lovely descriptions of the land in which they lived.
I love anything about the Ingalls family. This was informative.
I felt like I was reading a young adult book. I skipped over a lot of it. Not much of a story to it.
The Ingals family moved many times over, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa & South Dakota mainly due to the restless, wanderlust spirit of the father, Charles. In spite of the television program giving the impression that the family lived a long time in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, the Ingals’ girls actually spent most of their childhood in South Dakota. I learned that blind, Mary never married, and that Laura & husband Almonzo spent most of their married lives in Missouri. Laura was knowledgeable and resourceful in all things of nature. She loved nature and knew very much about trees, flowers, herbs, animals and how to take care of them, Laura, raised chickens for food & retail. This was an enjoyable, informative book and a reader felt like they were traveling along with this family in the covered wagon.
It was great to get a great scrapbook of this beloved author
I have read all of the Little house on the Prairie books so enjoyed reading about the author.
Loved the illustrations!
I was never a big Little House fan but this book was interesting and kept my attention throughout. Loved the gardening passages.
Thoroughly enjoyed all the new information on the Ingalls-Wilder families. Well written and lots of photos I’d never seen before.
If you loved the Laure Ingalls Wilders books, you’ll enjoy this portrait.
Dull, dull, dull. I’m sorry I bought it. Drones on about the history of the geographical areas occupied by the various members of the Ingalls family. Doesn’t shed much light on the books, sorry I paid for it.
Behind the scenes look at the life of a favorite childhood author ! Endearing…