An unpublished manuscript in Laura’s handwriting was found in her home. The First Four Years was published in 1971, and it told about the early years of Laura and Almanzo’s marriage.
In the 1970s a television series based on the Little House books was created. Little House on the Prairie was one of television’s most popular shows for many years. It is still shown around the world in many languages. West from Home, a collection of Laura’s letters to Almanzo from her 1915 trip to San Francisco to visit Rose, was published in 1974.
Laura’s books have been translated into seventeen languages and have been read by millions of people. She remains one of the world’s best-loved authors.
About the Author and Illustrator
WILLIAM ANDERSON’s interest in the American frontier began when a teacher read LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE to his third-grade class. He is the author of many books, including PIONEER GIRL: The Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder; LAURA INGALLS WILDER: A Biography; and RIVER BOY: The Story of Mark Twain. Mr. Anderson is a director of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Home and Museum in Mansfield, Missouri, and he lives and teaches in Michigan. Visit him online at www.williamandersonbooks.com.
RENÉE GRAEF is the illustrator of several books in the Little House publishing program, as well as Rodgers and Hammerstein’s MY FAVORITE THINGS and E.T.A. Hoffman’s THE NUTCRACKER, adapted by Janet Schulman. She lives in Cedarburg, Wisconsin, with her husband and two children.
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The Little House Books
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Illustrated by Garth Williams
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
THE FIRST FOUR YEARS
Credits
Cover photo © 2008 by Mark Tucker/Merge Left Reps., Inc.
Portrait photo courtesy of Laura Ingalls Wilder Home Association, Mansfield, MO
Cover design by Christopher Stengel
Copyright
PRAIRIE GIRL: The Life of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Text copyright © 2004 by William Anderson. Illustrations copyright © 2004 by Renée Graef. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
www.harpercollinschildrens.com
www.littlehousebooks.com
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Anderson, William, date
Prairie girl : the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder / by William Anderson ; illustrations by Renée Graef.— 1st ed. p. cm.
Summary: A biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the “Little House” books, from her Wisconsin childhood until her death at the age of ninety.
ISBN 0-06-028973-2 — ISBN 0-06-028974-0 (lib. bdg.)
EPub Edition © October 2016 ISBN 9780062570598
1. Wilder, Laura Ingalls, 1867–1957—Juvenile literature. 2. Authors, American—20th century—Biography—Juvenile literature. 3. Frontier and pioneer life—United States—Juvenile literature. 4. Children’s stories—Authorship—Juvenile literature. [1. Wilder, Laura Ingalls, 1867–1957. 2. Authors, American. 3. Women—Biography.] I. Graef, Renée, ill. II. Title.
PS3545.I342Z5635 2004 2003004444 813'.52—dc21 CIP AC
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