A Little House Traveler: Writings from Laura Ingalls Wilder's Journeys Across America
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
On This Page
Description
By the mid-1930s Laura Ingalls Wilder's journeys had taken her from Wisconsin to South Dakota, from Missouri to California and back again. She had traveled by wagon, by train, and by car; alone, with her husband, and with her daughter. She had watched the times, seasons, and people change over six decades of traveling. But one thing remained the same: Laura always kept a pencil and paper with her to jot down notes about her experiences. For the first time ever, writings from three of Laura's show more most memorable trips have been collected in one special omnibus edition featuring historical black-and-white photographs. One the Way Home recounts her 1894 move with Rose and Almanzo from South Dakota to their new homestead in Mansfield, Missouri. West From Home consists of letters from Laura to Almanzo as she traveled to California in 1915 to visit Rose. Previously unpublished materials from Laura and Almanzo's car trip in 1931 now tell the story of their first journey back to DeSmet, the town where Laura grew up, where she met Almanzo, and where they fell in love. Laura's candid sense of humor and keen eye for observation shine through in this wonderful collection of writings about the many places Laura Ingalls Wilder called home. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
I've long been fascinated with Laura Ingalls Wilder and all her books. I'm just finishing up another round of immersing myself in them. They still hold all the appeal for me that they ever did, maybe even more now that my life is more complicated than ever.
I know I'm romanticizing pioneer times and her life but I'm very attracted to the self-reliant, the frugality (opposites attract, right?), the waste not-want not attitude, the outdoors, the fewer choices.
A Little House Traveler prints two journals she kept as an adult, one when they moved from De Smet to Missouri (where they settled), and one when they returned to De Smet fourty years later for a visit and prints the letters she mailed Manly when she visited their daughter in San show more Francisco in 1915.
It was fun for me to read and it reminded me that while I have a certain longing for things as they were ... or I think I do anyway, there are also things I wouldn't change at all. When you moved states a hundred years ago you never knew if you'd see your family again. When Laura visited San Francisco she went for three months because she knew she'd never go again. Living apart from our families the past year and a half has been difficult, mostly because of our children, but we still see them (here and there) several times a year. We can fly or drive and either way is actually pretty fast. Even though I complain a lot about traveling, I'm pretty lucky it's as easy as it is! show less
I know I'm romanticizing pioneer times and her life but I'm very attracted to the self-reliant, the frugality (opposites attract, right?), the waste not-want not attitude, the outdoors, the fewer choices.
A Little House Traveler prints two journals she kept as an adult, one when they moved from De Smet to Missouri (where they settled), and one when they returned to De Smet fourty years later for a visit and prints the letters she mailed Manly when she visited their daughter in San show more Francisco in 1915.
It was fun for me to read and it reminded me that while I have a certain longing for things as they were ... or I think I do anyway, there are also things I wouldn't change at all. When you moved states a hundred years ago you never knew if you'd see your family again. When Laura visited San Francisco she went for three months because she knew she'd never go again. Living apart from our families the past year and a half has been difficult, mostly because of our children, but we still see them (here and there) several times a year. We can fly or drive and either way is actually pretty fast. Even though I complain a lot about traveling, I'm pretty lucky it's as easy as it is! show less
Finished Reading Feb 2015 Good book, allows a close and personal account of Laura's observations in her travels.
Writings from 3 of the best loved books by Ms. Wilder and with black and white photographs not seen before. Laura's candid sense of humor and keen eye for observation shine through in this wonderful collection of writings about the many places Laura Ingalls Wilder called home. Great reading for young and old, and those who remember reading Ms Wilder's wonderful books as a child.
Fascinating
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Author Information
187+ Works 152,286 Members
Wilder was born near Pepin, Wisconsin; attended school in DeSmet, South Dakota; and became a teacher before she was 16, teaching for seven years in Dakota Territory schools. She and her husband, Almanzo Wilder, farmed near DeSmet for about nine years and then moved to Mansfield, Missouri, where they lived out the rest of their days. Wilder did not show more write her first book, Little House in the Big Woods, about her early years in Wisconsin, until late in life, on the urging of her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane. It was first published in 1932. She followed this with Farmer Boy (1933), a book about her husband's childhood in New York State. She then completed a series of books about her life as she and her family moved westward along the frontier. Little House on the Prairie (1935) records the family's move to Kansas. On the Banks of Plum Creek (1937) describes the family's move to Minnesota. By the Shores of Silver Lake (1939) records the family's move to South Dakota, as do the final three books in the series: The Long Winter, Little Town on the Prairie (1941), and These Happy Golden Years (1943), which ends with her marriage to Almanzo Wilder. Three of Wilder's books were published posthumously: On the Way Home, a diary of her trip to Mansfield; The First Four Years, an unfinished book about her first four years of marriage; and West from Home, letters she wrote on a visit to her daughter in San Francisco, none of them up to the quality of her earlier books. At her best, Wilder employs a clear, simple style, a wealth of fascinating detail, and a straightforward narrative style. Her tales of a strong, traditional frontier family that endures the hardships of the late eighteenth century are seen through the eyes of a child, which endears them to young readers. Her work is possibly the best example of historical realistic fiction for children. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Work Relationships
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- A Little House Traveler: Writings from Laura Ingalls Wilder's Journeys Across America
- Original publication date
- 1962 (On the Way Home) (On the Way Home); 1974 (West from Home) (West from Home); 2006 (The Road Back) (The Road Back)
- Disambiguation notice
- Contents:
On the way home: Diary of a trip from South Dakota to Mansfield, Missouri, in 1894 (With a setting by Rose Wilder Lane) --
West from home: Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder San Francisco, 1915 --
Road back: ... (show all)Laura Ingalls Wilder's record of the journey back to De Smet, South Dakota, 1931 --
Extras. meet Laura ; Laura's family tree ; Letters to Laura ; Laura's final letter to Rose.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 224
- Popularity
- 145,134
- Reviews
- 4
- Rating
- (4.21)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 4
- ASINs
- 3
