Pioneer Girl: The Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder [Paperback]

William Anderson (Author), Dan Andreasen (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 7 and up | Grade Level: 2 and up | Series: Little House

The pioneer spirit lives on...

Readers around the world know and love Laura, the little girl born in the Big Woods of Wisconsin and raised in covered wagons and on wide open prairies. Now Little House fans can learn more about "Half-pint" in this, the first picture book biography book of Laura Ingalls Wilder.

With a simple, glowing text by noted historian and Little House scholar William Anderson, and glorious paintings by Dan Andreasen, Pioneer Girl is a very special portrait of a writer whose classic books and poineer adventures have made her one of the most popular literary figures in America.

This picture-book biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder tells the remarkable story of the pioneer girl who would one day immortalize her adventures in the beloved Little House books. Written in simple, glowing text by noted Little House scholar William Anderson, and illustrated with glorious paintings by artist Dan Andreasen, this wonderful first biography captures the very essence of the little girl called ‘Half-pint,' whose classic books and pioneer adventures have made her one of the most popular literary figures in America.
This picture-book biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder tells the remarkable story of the pioneer girl who would one day immortalize her adventures in the beloved Little House books. Written in simple, glowing text by noted Little House scholar William Anderson, and illustrated with glorious paintings by artist Dan Andreasen, this wonderful first biography captures the very essence of the little girl called ‘Half-pint,’ whose classic books and pioneer adventures have made her one of the most popular literary figures in America.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-4?An overview of Wilder's life accompanied by idealized illustrations that may blur the line between the facts and the fantasy presented by the TV series. Anderson touches on significant events: the places Laura settled with her family as a child and glimpses of everyday life; her marriage and adult life with Almanzo Wilder; and her work as an author. Andreasen's paintings, romantically rendered in warm tones, do provide period details, but often idealize the stark realities mentioned in the text. Readers old enough to be interested in Wilder will find this to be an adequate introduction but may find greater satisfaction in one of the numerous biographies that include some of the many photos of Laura and relics from her life, as well as a time line of her journeys. Her many fans will also appreciate Kathryn Lasky and Meribah Knight's Searching for Laura Ingalls (S & S, 1993), in which young Meribah Knight travels with her family to places featured in Wilder's books.?Susan M. Moore, Louisville Free Public Library, KY
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

Anderson distills his 1992 biography, Laura Ingalls Wilder, into picture-book length, choosing details that readers will encounter, either directly or indirectly, when they get to Wilder's own stories: her family's restless relocations from Wisconsin to Kansas, back to Wisconsin, on to Minnesota, then Iowa, the Dakota Territory, and finally Missouri; the plague of grasshoppers and other misfortunes; the daily round of chores; and the events surrounding her marriage and later life. Andreasen provides lovely, serene paintings; by placing dignified human figures into carefully detailed landscapes infused with a soft golden light, he pays tribute to Garth Williams's classic illustrations before finishing with creamy portraits of the silver-haired Wilder at her writing desk and mailbox. Unlike Alexandra Wallner's Laura Ingalls Wilder (p. 1396), this volume is an engrossing pioneer story on its own, and a wonderful prelude to the Little House books. (Picture book/biography. 7-9) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (February 2, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 006446234X
• ISBN-13: 978-0064462341
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #565,858 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #60 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > History & Historical Fiction > United States > Other

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully-written and beautifully-illustrated story of LIW, April 13, 1998

By 

Ava Gunn ([e-mail]) (Mississippi) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pioneer Girl: The Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House) (Hardcover)

Bill Anderson has done a wonderful job of telling the story of Laura Ingalls Wilder that can be read and enjoyed by both children and adults. Dan Andreason's illustrations are absolutely beautiful and complement Anderson's story very well.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Synopsis of Laura's whole life and a picture of Pioneer Days, June 30, 2003

By 

christinemm - The Thinking Mother (Houston Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Pioneer Girl: The Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House) (Hardcover)

This picture book is a compacted synopsis of the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder, from her birth in 1867 to her death in 1957 at age 90. Children who are familiar with some or all of Laura's stories (or the TV show) will delight in hearing of her entire life. I have yet to meet a child who does not delight in Laura's life and stories. Even if a child has read the Little House series of books, there is something new to learn here as her life continued beyond what we know from the Little House series.

If a child has never heard of Laura before, I suspect that they may not be very interested in this book because the challenge of cramming a biography covering 90 years of a person's life within the publishing industry standard of a 32 page picture book, has hindered the author's ability to present many captivating stories and interesting details about her life. They may also not "get" the interest in her life (in particular) and perhaps may view this more as a story of "just" a life of a pioneer girl in more of a historical context of hearing what life was like in America back then. There is much to learn about "just" the Pioneer Days aspect of this book, though. (Although my wish is that all children would read and know the wonderful stories contained in the Little House series.) The book doesn't really capture the unique and endearing qualities of Laura's personality and it is not a funny book. The text sometimes seems to rush through her life seeming to mostly focus on why they decided to move to a new place and what they liked there and then repeating the format through her many moves. (Those of us who already know these basics about her life won't see a problem with this, it will then be seen as more of a nice synopsis and summary of her life.)

There is a greater amount of text per page than in most picture books; perhaps explaining why the publisher has determined this is for a 9-12 age range. However, the font size is quite large and the language and information is so watered down that a 3 or 4 year old could understand it. What suffers here is the illustrations. The illustrations sometimes are of a more boring scene in the opposing page than could have been chosen. For example one page shows Laura and Mary doing homework at the kitchen table and while that is a part of the opposing pages' text, so is the more dramatic story of a terrible blizzard, which forced the family and other families to live together in the town building. While the people were starving, two boys (one being Almonzo Wilder) risked their lives by braving the storm to get food for everyone, not only surviving themselves but saving the lives of the townspeople. It seems to me that this exciting story would have made a better illustration.

As a read aloud, my two boys aged three and five sat quietly to listen to this story, they are familiar with the Little House chapter books and with the reruns of the TV show from the 1970s. They both enjoyed this story, as did I. If you want more details of Laura's life I advise you to read the entire Little House series of chapter books. I feel that children as young as 2.5 or 3 enjoy that series of books as a read-aloud. There are also books on the market that discuss Laura and her daughter Rose's life in much more detail if you are interested. There are also craft books and cookbooks as a companion to the Little House series.

I appreciated the author's focus on trying to capture what life was like in Pioneer days. The author did a great job at expressing the hardships of life and really appreciating how much physical hard work must be done to survive. He portrayed the hopes and dreams of Laura's father, why they wanted to move to a certain place, why they had to move on, etc. There were always good reasons for doing a certain thing. The strong family bond is very apparent and their love for each other is very clear, for example, when Laura was 15 and working as a teacher and lived away from her family she missed them and was happy to come home on weekends to be with them. Laura's adult life was full of change and adapting, and both she and Almonzo's commitment to do hard work in order to survive is expressed. ...

This book summarizes Laura's life, explains the values and commitment they all shared, and expresses the difficulty of life in Pioneer Days. It is interesting for both Laura-fans and for anyone interested in learning about life in the American Pioneer Days.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Book!, June 18, 2000

By 

Frank Murphy - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pioneer Girl: The Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder (Paperback)

This really is an outstanding and quite beautiful picture book! I never really read the Little House books as a kid. But I'm inclined to now. This IS a great prelude to those books. Incredible illustrations!