Customer Reviews

Laura Ingalls Wilder, Farm Journalist: Writings from the Ozarks

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Laura Ingalls Wilder: Farm Journalist is a collection of nonfiction essays written by the famous author of the "Little House " books for The Missouri Ruralist between 1911 and 1924. Complementing and extending the earlier collection of articles titled Little House in the Ozarks, this edition includes an additional forty -two articles and additional material omitted from the earlier collection. Laura wrote her articles addressed to contemporary farm women, making many philosophical and practical suggestions and observations pertinent to their daily life experiences. Her presence as an author is unmistakable. Much of the information pertaining to her years of experience as a Missouri farm wife finds roots in her pioneer history. Her values emerge clear and solid from the minutiae of daily chore lists and how-to suggestions. Her refreshing voice lends its clarity across the generations of technological advancement and finds its niche comfortably. This is a carefully edited collection that will appeal to lovers of the "Little House" books and American turn -of -the- century history too. The skillful adaptation to changing social and political environments while nurturing a stable base of beliefs and values is unique to this beloved author. Highly recommended reading for adults.

Nancy Lorraine
Reviewer

I cannot help but pour forth great excitement and delight in a book I just picked up titled Laura Ingalls Wilder: Farm Journalist, edited by Stephen Hines. Any American worth their salt knows Wilder as the author of the "Little House" books. I myself cut my book-reading teeth devouring these books time and time again, always dreaming of being a modern-day pioneer homesteader.

Before book-writing fame came to Wilder, she was known through the state of Missouri as a popular columnist in the Missouri Ruralist from 1911 to 1923. This book gathers nearly two hundred of these essays together for our profit. Ingalls wrote about home, agriculture, thrift, parenting, women's roles, etc., and gave readers an endless supply of pithy advice and personal anecdotes. She was Erma Bombeck, Will Rogers, Samuel Clemens, and Ben Franklin all rolled into one.

Ingalls' eyes were wide open to the advancements of the future, all the while seeking to keep her hands on the best of the "old ways". For example, in a clip called "Let's Revive the Old Amusements", she writes:
"Sometimes I wonder if telephones and motor cars are altogether blessings for country people. When my neighbor can call me up for a short visit over the phone, she is not so likely to make the necessary effort to come and spend the afternoon, and I get hungry for the sight of her face as well as the sound of her voice."

However, Ingalls was not a sentimentalist in regard to the past. She says:
"Love and service, with a belief in the future and expectation of better things in the tomorrow of the world is a good working philosophy; much better than, `in olden times-things were so much better when I was young.' For there is no turning back nor standing still; we must go forward, into the future, generation after generation toward the accomplishment of the ends that have been set for the human race."

Historians, fans of Little House, farmers, and children will all enjoy this book.

I am certainly not going to review this book, which I edited for the University of Missouri Press. But I will say that this work collects writings of an adult Laura writing to other farm women in the state of Missouri. She was sort of a booster for the small-time farmer for the Missouri Rurlist newspaper, which still publishes. Her "voice" is different in these adult works from what one might expect, but the writer is the same Laura as the creator of the "Little House" books. People wishing to contact me may visit my website at www.literaryprospector.com.

I would highly recomend this book. It is an interesting glimpse at the real Laura Ingalls Wilder. It is wonderful to hear her wisdom, stories and perspective. I also enjoy reading about the way life has and has not changed since the farm journal articles were written. This book is also easy to read in small increments of time.

This book is an interesting and enjoyable read for Laura fans.She writes so well, and her essays are full of insight and humor. She is intelligent in both heart and mind, and this book is never a dull read. I do wish it had photographs, even the front cover is not a picutre of her or of Rocky Ridge farm. But it's a good book for Laura's fans>

I really wanted this book, but I don't have it. The Amazon software played games with my order and decided to send two copies instead of the one I ordered. I notified Amazon immediately to stop the order but was told it was being sent and I could 1) pay the shipping to return the second copy, 2) or I could try to sell it myself on Amazon. What kind of respect does that show for a good customer? What an insult! I said I would reject the package at the post office, so Amazon sent it by UPS - I haven't had UPS deliver books from Amazon before, but the trick didn't work, I returned the package unopened at my local UPS office. Laura Ingalls Wilder is my favorite author, I'm very pleased to find her name in my family tree, but I don't have this book. I don't plan on having any Amazon books anymore. When a company is too large to care about a simple customer they have grown too large for my custom.