Laura Ingalls Wilder

Essential Lives

by Emma Carlson Berne

Discusses the life of the woman who created the famous "Little House" books, from her childhood in Wisconsin to her old age at Rocky Ridge Farm.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction

Library Binding

First published September 1, 2007

About the author

Emma Carlson Berne is the author of the YA thrillers STILL WATERS and NEVER LET YOU GO (coming Fall 2012 from Simon & Schuster). She has also written the thrillers FIGMENT and CHOKER under the pen name Elizabeth Woods. She lives and writes in Cincinnati. Learn more about Emma and contact her directly at her website, www.emmacarlsonberne.com. Or check out Emma Carlson Berne Books on http://www.facebook.com/EmmaCarlsonBe... or follow her on Twitter.

Reviews

[Carrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I grabbed this book, along with a bunch of other biographies, at the library for my 8 year old daughter. I saw it laying open on her bed one day and I picked it up and began to read it myself. I have always been interested in the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Although this book is written for elementary age or maybe middle school it was still enjoyable for me. :-)

[Ashley Snow · Rating 5 out of 5]

In truth, I could read any book about one of my all-time favorite authors - Laura Ingalls Wilder - and this one (intended for youth) was as enjoyable as any! I really appreciated the timeline of events, list of places to visit, additional notes and photographs. The author and publisher did a great job representing her life and accomplishments. She was indeed an Essential Life to American history and literature.

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. Very informative.

[Cheeri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Laura Ingalls Wilder's books about pioneer life have always captivated me so I chose to read a biography of her, written by Emma Carlson Berne. My daughter did a report on Laura Ingalls Wilder and read the very same book. This book is perfect for 4th grade and up because it uses words that children can understand and goes into more detail about what life was really like back then. I enjoyed the little side notes and boxes with interesting facts about Laura's life and the times she lived in. The book covered her birth all the way through her death. It highlights the differences between what she wrote in the Little House books and what her life was truly like. She left out some of the places she lived and some very hard events in her life, like her baby brother Freddie who died at 9 months old. She chose to leave some things out of her books because she felt they would be too sad for children to read. As I read about her life as a homesteader I was shocked at what a hard way of life that was and how many different times her parents started over from scratch in a new place with many of their homesteads being failures. Laura waited to write her Little House books until she was in her 60's. Her independent, travel-loving, novelist daughter Rose encouraged her to write her stories. Rose even edited the books for her. I hope to someday take my girls to Mansfield, MO and visit Laura's home there.

[Rosa Cline · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 1/2 stars

This was a very good 'starter' biography for those whom haven't read any biographies that are 'real life' of Ms. Wilder. So many of the biographies out there have added false things in or changed up her life etc. This one covered just about everything about her life including the things that she herself left out of her novels, and WHY she left them out. Also the 'story' behind the last novel that was published after her death and why it doesn't have the same 'feel' as you read it as the rest of the novels do.

There isn't lots and lots of information on one subject but enough to allow the reader to go 'oh, I wondered about that'... Also in the back is a timeline of her life and some other extras

[Maya · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a pretty simple biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder "designed for the middle school reader" but I still really enjoyed it. For one thing, the book includes actual pictures of Laura, Mary, Carrie, Pa, Ma, and Almanzo! Pa has a crazy beard!

I have long loved all the Little House books and wished that some of that life still existed today.

[Marlee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really did enjoy reading this book. This book was written for children,and was able to read it and one sitting. I loved reading her books and wanted to learn more about Laura Ingalls Wilder.It was interesting to read and made me want to learn more about Laura Ingalls Wilder,and her daughter Rose.

[Poppy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for a pre-teen.

[Beth N · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great biography for upper elementary readers.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Children's book but very interesting. You can read it in an hour.