Pioneer Girl

"A side-by-side textual comparison of the three surviving typescript revisions of "Pioneer Girl" that uses the texts themselves to draw inferences about Laura Ingalls Wilder's authorial and Rose Wilder Lane's editorial processes and intentions, as well as about the working relationship between the two women during their attempts to market "Pioneer Girl" as adult nonfiction, prior to the publication of Wilder's Little House novels that are based on these original manuscripts"--

Laura Ingalls Wilder's unedited, and unpublished, draft of her autobiography that was written for an adult audience and eventually served as the foundation for her popular Little House on the Prairie series includes not-safe-for-children tales that feature stark scenes of domestic abuse, love triangles gone awry and a man who lit himself on fire while drunk off whiskey.

From an award-winning author, a novel about a Vietnamese American family’s ties to The Little House on the Prairie Jobless with a PhD, Lee Lien returns home to her Chicago suburb from grad school, only to find herself contending with issues she’s evaded since college. But when her brother disappears, he leaves behind an object from their mother’s Vietnam past that stirs up a forgotten childhood dream: a gold-leaf brooch, abandoned by an American reporter in Saigon back in 1965, that might be an heirloom belonging to Laura Ingalls Wilder. As Lee explores the tenuous facts of this connection, she unearths more than expected—a trail of clues and enticements that lead her from the dusty stacks of library archives to hilarious prairie life reenactments and ultimately to San Francisco, where her findings will transform strangers’ lives as well as her own. A dazzling literary mystery about the true origins of a time-tested classic, Pioneer Girl is also the deeply moving tale of a second-generation Vietnamese daughter, the parents she struggles to honor, the missing brother she is expected to bring home—even as her discoveries yield dramatic insights that will free her to live her own life to its full potential.

Describes the early childhood and life of Grace Snyder, whose family owned a Nebraska homestead in the late nineteenth century and endured the hardships and dangers of the prairie.

The pioneer spirit lives on... Readers around the world know and love Laura, the little girl born in the Big Woods of Wisconsin and raised in covered wagons and on wide open prairies. Now Little House fans can learn more about "Half-pint" in this, the first picture book biography book of Laura Ingalls Wilder. With a simple, glowing text by noted historian and Little House scholar William Anderson, and glorious paintings by Dan Andreasen, Pioneer Girl is a very special portrait of a writer whose classic books and poineer adventures have made her one of the most popular literary figures in America. This picture-book biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder tells the remarkable story of the pioneer girl who would one day immortalize her adventures in the beloved Little House books. Written in simple, glowing text by noted Little House scholar William Anderson, and illustrated with glorious paintings by artist Dan Andreasen, this wonderful first biography captures the very essence of the little girl called ‘Half-pint,' whose classic books and pioneer adventures have made her one of the most popular literary figures in America. This picture-book biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder tells the remarkable story of the pioneer girl who would one day immortalize her adventures in the beloved Little House books. Written in simple, glowing text by noted Little House scholar William Anderson, and illustrated with glorious paintings by artist Dan Andreasen, this wonderful first biography captures the very essence of the little girl called ‘Half-pint,’ whose classic books and pioneer adventures have made her one of the most popular literary figures in America.

Laura Ingalls Wilder's beloved Little House books chronicle her childhood in the late 1800s on the American frontier. Now readers can learn about the real Laura, including events she did not write about in her classic stories, in this engaging and accessible chapter-book biography.

When Laura Ingalls Wilder was a little girl in the late 1800's, her family moved nine times in three years. The Wilders faced great hardships on the prairie. The crops they planted were destroyed by grasshoppers. Brutal snowstorms brought them close to starvation. But for Laura, who was born with her father's pioneer spirit, home wasn't a house--it was being with Ma, Pa, Mary, and baby Carrie. At the age of 65 she put pen to paper and wrote about memories. Through hard work and the help of her daughter, Rose, she became a successful author. The wonderful books she left behind tell the story of a rich life in the face of good times and bad.

"A publication of the Pioneer Girl Project."