Tuesday, July 29, 2025

Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Edited by Pamela Smith Hill

 


Started reading Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography by Laura Ingalls Wilder and edited by Pamela Smith Hill. Not sure how long it will take me to get through it because of my limited reading time. Here is the book's description:

Follow the real Laura Ingalls and her family as they make their way west and discover that truth is as remarkable as fiction.

Hidden away since the 1930s, Laura Ingalls Wilder's never-before-published autobiography reveals the true stories of her pioneering life. Some of her experiences will be familiar; some will be a surprise. Pioneer Girl re-introduces readers to the woman who defined the pioneer experience for millions of people around the world.

Through her recollections, Wilder details the Ingalls family's journey from Kansas, Missouri, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, back to Minnesota, and on to Dakota Territory, sixteen years of travels, unforgettable stories, and the everyday people who became immortal through her fiction. Using additional manuscripts, diaries, and letters, Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography builds on Wilder's work by adding valuable context and explores her growth as a writer.

Author of an award-winning Laura Ingalls Wilder biography, editor Pamela Smith Hill offers new insights into Wilder's life and times. In an introduction, Hill illuminates Wilder's writing career and the dynamic relationship between the budding novelist and her daughter and editor, Rose Wilder Lane. Sharing the story of Wilder's original manuscript, Hill discusses the catalysts for Pioneer Girl and the process through which Wilder's story turned from an unpublished memoir into the national phenomenon of the Little House series.

Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography also explores the history of the frontier that the Ingalls family traversed and the culture and life of the communities Wilder lived in. This groundbreaking volume develops a fuller picture of Wilder's life and times for the millions of readers who wish to learn more about this important American author. It contains one hundred and twenty-five images, eight fully researched maps, and hundreds of annotations based on numerous primary sources, including census data, county, state, and federal records, and newspapers of the period.

An important historic and literary achievement, this annotated edition of Pioneer Girl provides modern readers with new insights into the woman behind the fictional classics Little House in the Big Woods, Farmer Boy, Little House on the Prairie, On the Banks of Plum Creek, By the Shores of Silver Lake, The Long Winter, Little Town on the Prairie, These Happy Golden Years, and The First Four Years.

Have you read it yet? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments. 

Friday, July 18, 2025

Which Areas of the World Read Laura's Little Houses

 


Occasionally, I check to see where this blog's traffic is coming from. Most recent stats show that the most readers of Laura's Little Houses originate from Brazil. Singapore, which was in the top spot in May, is now number two on the list, followed by the United States, Vietnam, and India. 

Thanks to everyone who spends time reading Laura's Little Houses!

Sunday, July 13, 2025

Book Review: The Three Faces of Nellie: The Real Story Behind Laura Ingalls Wilder's "Nellie Oleson" by Robynne Elizabeth Miller

 


By now, most fans of the books and the television show know that Nellie Oleson is a composite of three historical figures from Laura Ingalls Wilder's life: Nellie Owens, Genevieve Masters, and Stella Gilbert. In her 2016 book, The Three Faces of Nellie: The Real Story Behind Laura Ingalls Wilder's "Nellie Oleson," Robynne Elizabeth Miller dives deeply into the three young women who became Nellie Oleson to the world. In addition, she shares biographical information about their families, including dates of birth and death, occupations, marriages, and so much more!

Nellie Oleson became a fascinating character from the moment readers first met her in On the Banks of Plum Creek. Thanks to future books and the Little House on the Prairie television series, she continued to be the character everyone loved to hate. As brought to life in fiction, Nellie Oleson protected the identities of others and allowed Wilder to create one arch-nemesis for the entire series. 

The Three Faces of Nellie begins with Nellie Owens and her family, moves onto Genevieve Masters, and ends with Estella "Stella" Gilbert. Along the way, Miller provides insight into how much each historical figure influenced the Nellie Oleson character. Readers learn details about their lives that required loads of research--clearly cited in the extensive bibliography at the end--that supports the author's belief that, "Their lives, individually, and collectively..." are worth more than simply being "one of the most iconic and enduring antagonists in literary history." 

If you are a lover of Laura and her work, you need to own a copy of The Three Faces of Nellie.

Publisher: Practical Pioneer Press
Publication date: November 28, 2016
Edition: 1st
Language: English
Print length: 140 pages
ISBN-10: 069281258X
ISBN-13: 978-0692812587

I purchased a copy of this book in February of this year. This review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.