Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography by Laura Ingalls Wilder

I believe this book is essential reading for anyone who likes the Little House series. It made me fall in love with the series again and also admire Wilder more than ever. I am glad this book has her raw writing, but also lots of great historical notes about her, Lane, and life on the frontier. Editor Pamela Smith Hill did an excellent job.

An original manuscript (which she intended to be edited by her daughter) from that time is not the most polished, but I did appreciate seeing Wilder’s natural prose. She did have moments that showed she was a great writer as the series leads you to believe.

The stories in the manuscript are much more realistic and grittier than in the series, but it still retained that voice of innocence. I ended this book liking everyone more including Pa and Rose Wilder Lane.

The physical beauty of the book is an added bonus. It’s a hefty, wide hard cover book with photos and a lovely cover.

I really enjoyed this book and it cements my love of Wilder as an author and the Little house series even with those little caveats I had during the reread.

Read March 22-25, 2015

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.