We apologize for the interruption in blogging this week. The Beyond Little House blogging team has been exploring “Little House” land together while planning the Laurapalooza 2010 conference. Expect a return to regular blogging next week.
In the meantime, we received a question that doesn’t have a clear-cut answer, so we thought you might like to add your two cents to our response.
I’m a newcomer to Laura Wilder. I’ve just read and very much enjoyed Helen Wetmore’s biography of her brother (Buffalo Bill), “Last of the Great Scouts.” In addition to the story of Buffalo Bill himself, the setting showing the opening up of America was of great interest to me (I’m South African). In the introduction to Helen Wetmore’s story, Joy S. Kasson writes that both Hamlin Garland and Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote about their childhood experiences on the frontier. I would therefore appreciate it very much if you could recommend one or two (or more!) of Laura Wilder’s books that best portray that frontier life.
Errol Collen
Johannesburg, South Africa
Our answer: The Little House series forms a beautiful compilation of life on the American frontier from the perspective of one individual’s experience. It would be difficult to isolate one or two of the books and truly grasp the full pioneering experience. Therefore, our recommendation is to read the entire series if at all possible.
However, individual books do capture different aspects of the frontier experience. Therefore, we’re opening this one up to our readers. If you had to recommend one or two Little House books that best portray that frontier life, which would you choose and why?