On the Way Home: The Diary of a Trip from South Dakota to Mansfield,… (1962)

This was actually a diary found by Laura Ingalls Wilder's daughter, Rose, after her mother had died. Rose has a forward and an epilogue. It was good and short, done in diary entry mode, about the Wilder's trip from De Smet, South Dakota to Mansfield, Missouri and the purchase of their home. 138 pages ( )

I was very much a fan of the Little House on the Prairie series, so I was interested to read a book that was simply a diary from Laura, rather than a children’s story that was based on Laura’s experiences as a little girl. Laura’s daughter Rose provides context and notes to explain what’s going on, and this book also includes pictures so that the reader can get an idea for what Laura and her family saw and experienced on this trip.

On the Way Home is a super short read — I read it in one sitting, and it provides a nice snapshot for how Laura and her family really lived — much more realistic than the children’s books, at least. It’s much more honest and shows a different side of the Ingalls/Wilder family than is portrayed in the books — their situation seems a lot more difficult and harsher than I ever realized as a child reading the children’s books. I really enjoyed Rose’s commentary throughout, and I loved being able to read what Laura observed during her trip. Her entries are short, so by seeing what she includes, you can get a sense of what she cares about and what she worries about. It’s so interesting to see what the midwest was like during those times, and I kept bugging my husband while I was reading to share fun facts as I read through the book.

I would definitely recommend this for Little House on the Prairie fans. It’s written in diary form, so it’s different than the books, but the pictures are fantastic and it’s worth a read. I don’t think smaller children would be very interested in it, but older children might like it.

Also posted on Purple People Readers. ( )

"On The Way Home" is basically a travel diary that Laura Ingalls Wilder kept when her and her family (Manly and Rose) moved from South Dakota to Mansfield, Missouri. It takes place after the events in "The First Four Years." It records dates, amounts of rain, food, has descriptions of the land, other travelers they found, bodies of water, and the cost of goods.

There's really not a lot of story to it. If you love Laura Ingalls Wilder, you'll enjoy learning more about her. If you love history, you'll enjoy learning what an individual in 1894 deemed important, their questions and concerns about moving to a new area.

Honestly, this would be a little slow and tedious for most kids-now-a-days to read. As an adult, and the granddaughter of farmers, I can appreciate their concerns about their farming livelihood. When Laura talks about berry picking or their corn crop, I can almost hear my grandmother's voice.

So, yeah, if you want some history, some farming, and some more Laura check it out. ( )

For more details please see my review of [b:West from Home: Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder, San Francisco, 1915|12958121|West from Home Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder, San Francisco, 1915|Laura Ingalls Wilder|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1319561578s/12958121.jpg|11157] http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/457817771. This was shorter, and not quite as informative - but that's only to be expected as it had not the purpose of communicating the events as the other, and also Laura was younger and busier and poorer (paper was a luxury).

Still, I enjoyed it very much, even though I wish it had more about Rose and being a mother in it. I liked that at one point, when admiring the countryside around the James River, Laura writes If I had been the Indians I would have scalped more white folks before I ever would have left it."" ( )

On the Way Home exposes a new insight that readers do not get in the other little house books because it is written in the form of diary entries. This biography takes readers on a journey from the Wilder’s home on the prairie in South Dakota to Mansfield, Missouri. Many children will hear the names of these states and automatically start yawning, but Wilder has a way of recording her journey with her husband and young daughter that excites the reader and makes their long road trip seem kind of fun. The biography begins with a description of the family’s home in South Dakota and ends with the years the family spent in Missouri written by Laura and Almanzo’s daughter Rose Wilder Lane. During those parts of the book, Rose tells stories about her mother that readers do not often get to see. We learn that Laura wrote most of the Little House books in her home in Missouri. There are also a lot of rare photographs featured throughout the book, in both the parts written by Rose and in Laura’s diary entries. These photos can help put a true face to the author that so many only know as a little girl. ( )