Publisher and Publication Date: South Dakota Historical Society Press. 2014. Genre: Autobiography. Pages and Format: Hardcover. 465 pages with print to read. Several maps and illustrations.
Source: Fort Worth Public Library.
Link for the book @ Goodreads.
Link @ Thriftbooks.
Laura Ingalls Wilder Home.
Pioneer Girl is a publication of the Pioneer Girl Project.
Pamela Smith Hill is the Editor. Nancy Tystad Koupal is the Director. Rodger Hartley is the Associate Editor.
Jeanne Kilen Ode is the Associate Editor.
Prelude:
Pioneer Girl is the autobiography Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote and handed over to her daughter for editing in 1930. Then the book was placed away, and a historical fiction series was written using the autobiography as a starting point.
Pioneer Girl shares how the publishers felt about her books (plural) and those who refused to publish them unless heavy editing was done. I also understand the differences in opinion between Wilder and Lane (the daughter of Wilder) on what to edit out of the manuscript and what to add.
Pioneer Girl is a remarkable book because of the research and study that has been done by the “Pioneer Girl Project.” The characters who are mentioned by Wilder are researched through historical documents. For example: the U. S. Census Bureau, Ancestry.com, licenses, newspapers, and land records.
In Pioneer Girl, the writing team of Laura Ingalls Wilder and Rose Wilder Lane are examined, especially in regard to Lane’s experience as a published writer.
The hardcover book is big. The dimensions are 9.84 x 1.29 x 10.14 inches.
My Thoughts:
My first thought is I wish I’d read this book sooner. I enjoy the writings of Wilder and have read the Little House series several times in childhood and as an adult. I think I’d heard of the book, Pioneer Girl, but had not read it until recent.
I am amazed at the careful research on all the people Wilder wrote about in her story. The teachers, pastors, childhood friends, neighbors, a doctor, family, and the people who purchased their properties. In the story The Long Winter, the weather of that time is studied for accuracy in her book. I appreciate knowing what caused Mary’s blindness.
I enjoyed reading the true story of Wilder and in understanding the differences in the autobiography versus the fiction books. The truth is what I’d prefer to read. But what publishers wanted in order to sell the book, and what Lane wanted, and what Wilder wanted were all different.
Through Pioneer Girl, I understand the struggles and hardships they all had whether it was financial, traveling to another place, or the sicknesses they endured.
Wilder and Lane had a complicated relationship. They depended on one another, but they seemed to resent this. Their opinions got the best of them, and they argued. What I find interesting is Almanzo Wilder is silent. I don’t know what he thought. I don’t know his detailed life story. It is centered on Laura, her sisters, her parents, Rose Wilder Lane, and the people who Wilder wrote about in her books. Almanzo is a character, but I don’t know what he thought. I don’t know about his likes and dislikes. He seems obscure. I wonder if this has been done purposefully. I am curious about him.
Do you remember the locusts and grasshoppers that attacked and ate at Pa’s beautiful wheat? They were called the Rocky Mountain locust. They were prominent in 1873-1877. They are now considered extinct. How they behaved and how they “walked west” is all fascinating.
I enjoyed reading several substories. One is about an Indigenous baby that is found dead. The body is found in a basket hanging from a tree. A white man took the baby with the intention of sending it to Chicago for study. There is trouble when the baby’s people want the baby returned.
I love the magazine layout of the book. The book has several maps and illustrations-all in black and white interspersed with the writing. The annotated writing is on the side margins of the book.
I feel this is a wonderful study of the 19th century and the heartland of America through the eyes and perspective of Laura Ingalls Wilder.
Illustration examples of the handwritten copy of the book are included.
I highly recommend and love.
February 21, 2025
[Review] Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography by Laura Ingalls Wilder | Impressions In Ink
maximios Review
Publisher and Publication Date: South Dakota Historical Society Press. 2014. Genre: Autobiography. Pages and Format: Hardcover. 465 pages with print to read. Several maps and illustrations.
Source: Fort Worth Public Library.
Link for the book @ Goodreads.
Link @ Thriftbooks.
Laura Ingalls Wilder Home.
Pioneer Girl is a publication of the Pioneer Girl Project.
Pamela Smith Hill is the Editor. Nancy Tystad Koupal is the Director. Rodger Hartley is the Associate Editor.
Jeanne Kilen Ode is the Associate Editor.
Prelude:
Pioneer Girl is the autobiography Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote and handed over to her daughter for editing in 1930. Then the book was placed away, and a historical fiction series was written using the autobiography as a starting point.
Pioneer Girl shares how the publishers felt about her books (plural) and those who refused to publish them unless heavy editing was done. I also understand the differences in opinion between Wilder and Lane (the daughter of Wilder) on what to edit out of the manuscript and what to add.
Pioneer Girl is a remarkable book because of the research and study that has been done by the “Pioneer Girl Project.” The characters who are mentioned by Wilder are researched through historical documents. For example: the U. S. Census Bureau, Ancestry.com, licenses, newspapers, and land records.
In Pioneer Girl, the writing team of Laura Ingalls Wilder and Rose Wilder Lane are examined, especially in regard to Lane’s experience as a published writer.
The hardcover book is big. The dimensions are 9.84 x 1.29 x 10.14 inches.
My Thoughts:
My first thought is I wish I’d read this book sooner. I enjoy the writings of Wilder and have read the Little House series several times in childhood and as an adult. I think I’d heard of the book, Pioneer Girl, but had not read it until recent.
I am amazed at the careful research on all the people Wilder wrote about in her story. The teachers, pastors, childhood friends, neighbors, a doctor, family, and the people who purchased their properties. In the story The Long Winter, the weather of that time is studied for accuracy in her book. I appreciate knowing what caused Mary’s blindness.
I enjoyed reading the true story of Wilder and in understanding the differences in the autobiography versus the fiction books. The truth is what I’d prefer to read. But what publishers wanted in order to sell the book, and what Lane wanted, and what Wilder wanted were all different.
Through Pioneer Girl, I understand the struggles and hardships they all had whether it was financial, traveling to another place, or the sicknesses they endured.
Wilder and Lane had a complicated relationship. They depended on one another, but they seemed to resent this. Their opinions got the best of them, and they argued. What I find interesting is Almanzo Wilder is silent. I don’t know what he thought. I don’t know his detailed life story. It is centered on Laura, her sisters, her parents, Rose Wilder Lane, and the people who Wilder wrote about in her books. Almanzo is a character, but I don’t know what he thought. I don’t know about his likes and dislikes. He seems obscure. I wonder if this has been done purposefully. I am curious about him.
Do you remember the locusts and grasshoppers that attacked and ate at Pa’s beautiful wheat? They were called the Rocky Mountain locust. They were prominent in 1873-1877. They are now considered extinct. How they behaved and how they “walked west” is all fascinating.
I enjoyed reading several substories. One is about an Indigenous baby that is found dead. The body is found in a basket hanging from a tree. A white man took the baby with the intention of sending it to Chicago for study. There is trouble when the baby’s people want the baby returned.
I love the magazine layout of the book. The book has several maps and illustrations-all in black and white interspersed with the writing. The annotated writing is on the side margins of the book.
I feel this is a wonderful study of the 19th century and the heartland of America through the eyes and perspective of Laura Ingalls Wilder.
Illustration examples of the handwritten copy of the book are included.
I highly recommend and love.