Little House (book series) facts for kids
Little House on the Prairie is a famous book written by Laura Ingalls Wilder in 1935. It's part of a series of books about Laura's own childhood. These stories tell about her life in places like Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Kansas during the late 1800s.
The "Little House" books have been made into many movies and television series. Other writers have also created books about Laura and her family. These books became very popular in the 1900s.
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The Little House Books
Laura Ingalls Wilder first wrote a book called Pioneer Girl. This book was a true story about her life. However, she couldn't find anyone to publish it. Her daughter suggested she write fictional stories instead.
The "Little House" series is different from Laura's real life. She wanted to tell a happy story. She also wanted to show something called Manifest Destiny as a good idea. Manifest Destiny was a belief that settlers were meant to expand across America. To make the story flow, she left out parts of her real life. For example, the books don't mention when her family moved to Iowa. They also don't talk about her baby brother who died young. Laura also created new characters or combined real people into one character. For instance, Nellie Olson in the books was based on more than one real person.
In 2015, an edited version of Pioneer Girl was finally published. It includes many notes to help modern readers understand the story better.
Original Books in the Series
Here are the main books in the "Little House" series:
- Little House in the Big Woods (1932)
- Farmer Boy (1933)
- Little House on the Prairie (1935)
- On the Banks of Plum Creek (1937)
- By the Shores of Silver Lake (1939)
- The Long Winter (1940)
- Little Town on the Prairie (1941)
- These Happy Golden Years (1943)
- On the Way Home (1962)
- The First Four Years (1971)
- West From Home (1974)
- The Road Back (2006)
Nonfiction Book
- Pioneer Girl (2015)
TV Shows and Movies
The "Little House" stories have been adapted for television many times.
TV Movies
- Little House on the Prairie (1974)
- Little House Years (1978)
- Little House: Look Back to Yesterday (1983)
- Little House: Bless All the dear Children (1984)
- Little House: The Last Farewell (1984)
- Beyond the Prairie: The True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder (1997)
- Beyond the Prairie: The True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder II (1998)
- Little House on the Prairie (2005) - a miniseries
TV Series
- Jackanory - Little House in the Big Woods (1966)
- Jackanory - Farmer Boy (1968)
- Little House on the Prairie / Little House: A New Beginning (1974-1983) - a live-action show
- Laura the Prairie Girl (1975) - an animated series
Native Americans in the Books
In 2018, an organization called the Association for Library Service to Children changed the name of an award. It used to be called the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award. Now it is the Children’s Literature Legacy Award. This change happened because some people felt that the way Wilder wrote about Native Americans in Little House on the Prairie was not fair.
They said the book showed "dated cultural attitudes" towards Indigenous people. This means the book's views were old-fashioned and didn't fit with modern ideas of respecting all communities. For example, in the book, a white character says, "the only good Indian is a dead Indian." Some words Laura used to describe Native Americans made them sound less than human.
However, other people felt the book showed how complicated things were between Native Americans and white settlers. For example, the book shows that the Ingalls family was living on Native American land without permission. This meant they had to leave. It also shows Laura asking her parents why they were in Native American territory if they didn't want to be near Native Americans.Little House on the Prairie (TV series)
