I was in second grade when I discovered Laura Ingalls Wilder’s The Little House on the Prairie series. I connected with little Laura as she explored the Kansas prairie, and I read those books until the covers fell off. Twice—I went through two volumes of those books and still own the second round.
Laura was born on February 7, 1867, making it her 158th birthday this year. To honor her writing, I wrote an article about how her writing was my introduction to the Western genre and detail how she created a child-friendly series set in the Wild West. It’s an examination of how she used the familiar Western tropes—vast landscapes, killer storms, renegades—you’ll find it all inside her stories.
You’ll also find warm, domestic stories of a loving family facing devastating life events with the same “we’ll make it through this together” spirit. Laura handles these moments with a subtleness that allows children to experience them at an appropriate level while also presenting the worries of Ma and Pa Ingalls.
I hope you’ll check out my article on Chanticleer Book Reviews’ website. I enjoyed reconsidering Laura Ingalls Wilder’s writing, now as a fellow writer, and seeing how her beautiful descriptions of the Kansas prairie has seeped into my own writing today.
