Laura Ingalls Wilder

Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder (7 February 1867 – 10 February 1957) was an American writer, most famous for the Little House series of children's novels based on her childhood in a pioneer family.

The real things haven't changed. It is still best to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasures; and have courage when things go wrong.

See also:

Little House on the Prairie (TV series)

Quotes

• I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all.
  • "A Bouquet of Wild Flowers", article published in the Missouri Ruralist (20 July 1917)

• Now is now. It can never be a long time ago.
  • Little House in the Big Woods (1932), Ch. 13

• The Little House books are stories of long ago. The way we live and your schools are much different now, so many changes have made living and learning easier. But the real things haven't changed. It is still best to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasures and to be cheerful and have courage when things go wrong.
  • Letter to children (February 1947)

Little Town on the Prairie (1941)

• There's no great loss without some small gain.
  • Ch. 9; said by Ma, after Pa lost the corn crop to blackbirds but brought home some of the birds for dinner.

Misattributed

• Remember me with smiles and laughter, for that is how I will remember you all. If you can only remember me with tears, then don't remember me at all.
  • Michael Landon, in Little House on the Prairie (TV series), Season 2, Ep 8 (5 November 1975) "Remember Me", Part 1

Verified by the Laura Ingalls Wilder museum curators - Laura Ingalls Wilder did not write these words. The "Remember Me, part 1" TV episode was written by both Michael Landon and Blanche Hanalis. The words were spoken by the character of Rev. Alden as Julia's funeral.

Quotes about Wilder

• If you look at other so-called children’s authors, you’ll see they never wrote directly for children. Though Lewis Carroll dedicated his book to Alice, I feel it was an afterthought once the whole was already committed to paper. Beatrix Potter declared, “I write to please myself!” And I think the same can be said of Milne or Tolkien or Laura Ingalls Wilder.
  • P. L. Travers, author of the Mary Poppins stories, in The Paris Review No. 86 (Winter 1982)

External links

• Laura Ingalls Wilder, Frontier Girl
• Beyond Little House: Comprehensive Laura Ingalls Wilder Blog
• Pioneer Girl, Laura Ingalls Wilder A-Z
• De Smet, South Dakota: The Little Town on the Prairie
• Mansfield, Missouri: Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home
• Independence, Kansas: The Little House on the Prairie
• Walnut Grove, Minnesota: Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum
• Burr Oak, Iowa: Wilder Museum
• Malone, New York: Almanzo Wilder Farm
• The Ingalls Wilder Family Songbook at Music of the United States of America (MUSA)
• Bibliography, transcriptions, and images of all of Laura's Missouri Ruralist articles
• Laura Ingalls Wilder family letters:Highlights The Wisconsin Historical Society