Who Was Laura Ingalls Wilder?

Who Was . . . ? Series

by Patricia Brennan Demuth, Who H.Q., Tim Foley (Illustrator)

Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books, based on her own childhood and later life, are still beloved classics almost a century after she began writing them. Now young readers will see just how similar Laura's true-life story was to her books. Born in 1867 in the "Big Woods" in Wisconsin, Laura experienced both the hardship and the adventure of living on the frontier. Her life and times are captured in engaging text and 80 black-and-white illustrations.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, History, Childrens, Audiobook, Middle Grade, Biography Memoir

112 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2013

Reviews

[Sheri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Different from others in this series, this is more often told in a story-like style that reads like fiction rather than a nonfiction biography. There are more illustrations and white space than I expected, particularly for someone who has been so extensively researched and written about throughout the years. There should be much to write about Laura and the changing times she lived in.

The timeline of Laura's life is accurate and the whole book offers a very recognizable, albeit nice, summarization of the Little House on the Prairie book series. It's great information for someone who hasn't read her autobiographical books, but unfortunately, it doesn't offer so much new information about Laura herself for those who have already read those stories.

My expectation was to read and learn about Laura as a person throughout her life, and not to read mostly a retelling of her own stories. I expected a chapter on her personality and character traits such as how hardworking Laura was, first diligently working to help send Mary to the school for the blind, later when Almanzo is sickly and unable to work, and then later still all the years spent improving Rocky Ridge farm. Was she still strong-minded and independent in her adult years? Did people begin to see other personality traits taking a more prominent place? The reader gets a good view of her self-described, and perhaps biased, perspective on her personality, but again, it was all taken from what she wrote in her books. There were no other insights into her character that could be deduced or were inferred? I also expected to read about her lasting popularity and the homesites and museums that people can visit to see for themselves how and where she lived.

I generally find this series to be very good but this would not be my first choice to recommend as a biography on Laura Ingalls Wilder as it disappoints in some aspects.

[Christy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good little side companion to go along with my re-reading of the Little House on the Prairie series. I ran across this on audio from my Library and enjoyed it very much!

[Donalyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

My students adore the Who Was series and have begged me to collect them for our class library. I can't wait to bring this newest installment about one of my childhood idols, Laura Ingalls Wilder. It was fascinating to compare her real-life events with the slightly fictionalized version in the Little House books. It makes me happy to learn that Laura and Almanzo lived happily together for 64 years.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Laura Ingalls Wilder's life encompassed many more adventures than her stories could hold. What an interesting little book about the life of an author, whose stories I read continuously as a child.

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent introduction to this important and historical Author. Great Storytelling!

[Karly · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting biography. I learned a lot about this author. I didn’t like how the author described her family “taming America”. It seemed quite rosey, when we know that’s not how it actually happened. I would like to read some “Who was...” books on Native Americans and Indigenous Peoples.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book included most of the important information from the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder. It included her timeline accurately as compared to Laura's chosen timeline and events in the Little House books. It did not, of course, include some of the seedier details, although it did refer to the incident of the drunken man who shot at his wife when the family lived over the saloon in Burr Oak. I was a little surprised to see that in this book. The one thing that really annoyed me was that the author always referred to the Ingalls family as "the Ingallses" instead of just "the Ingalls". I felt that really trips up your tongue to have to read "the Ingallses" over and over, and for young readers especially that it would've been good to opt for the other way.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to this though Overdrive at my library. It wasn't too bad, much of it was a rehashing of her life through the books with additions of things that were left out. It did mention the real reason the Ingalls left Kansas, their trip to Burr Oak, Charles Fredrick Ingalls' short life, the return to Walnut Grove and Rose living with Eliza Jane to go to high school. It left out Laura and Almanzo's time in Florida and most info on Rose's marriage. It's a good book for the youngest readers of the Little House books who want to know more about the real story behind them.

[Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Big Head Biographies. I just finished an adult biography of Wilder and then saw this in my library. It would be great to share with a young person enjoying the Little House books.

[Sophia · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first venture into the Who Was series of biographies aimed at the Middle Grade crowd went well. I adore Laura Ingalls Wilder and her Little House tales so I was happy to pick up this carefully crafted biography that hit the historical facts, but in such a way to help the reader imagine the person and their life in brief.

For those who have only read the Little House books or watched the show, parts of Laura's bio will be startling because yes, she did leave out moments in her childhood or changed things for various reasons. This is adheres to the facts and brings up the sad as well as happy times with the focus reading group being decidedly young.

I enjoyed this one and appreciated the sharing of the bibliography so I can look for even more source material on a favorite author. Definitely recommended to Middle Grade and even among the more advanced chapter readers or the young at heart.

[Rita Araújo · Rating 5 out of 5]

#lerlauraingallswilder

[Olivia]

I love the Whohq books!

[Marianne Cone · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m reading the books my kids read. This one was written well, but if you are big Laura Ingalls Wilder fans like we are and have already read the series, you won’t learn much that isn’t already covered there.

[Anna Cavallo · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all, Laura Ingalls Wilder is a wonderful writer and story teller. Secondly, she writes about a time in our history long pasts. She writes about family values during a time that America was just beginning to blossom. It is a wonderful time in our history.

Excellent introduction to this important and historical Author. Great Storytelling!

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never knew how much she moved around.

[Readasaurus Rex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good

Interesting. I've seen the shows based on this book series but I've never read the books themselves yet. Might be interesting

[Linds · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great series for Middle Schoolers.

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

My kids really enjoy these little biography books. Captivating stories.

[Lauri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book for kids. No errors that screamed at me. Good job mixing the actual with the fictional without horrifying the intended audience.

[Shawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

If all you know about Laura Ingalls Wilder is what you've read in her "Little House" series, you're missing out on some stuff. This book takes the reader beyond the mostly happy times of Laura's childhood and talks about some of the sadder aspects. Like losing her little brother, Freddie, at nine months old. Or the fact that they almost starved one winter.

It also tells of Wilder's elder years, when she started writing the "Little House" series at the age of 62. The reader learns that Wilder decided to write them at the encouragement of her daughter, Rose, who had become an independent world traveler and successful writer at a time when women didn't really do such things.

And finally, it talks about how an award was created by the American Library Association in 1954 (3 years before Wilder's death) called the "Laura Ingalls Wilder Award." It was given to an author or illustrator who had made a long-lasting contribution to children's literature. What this book omits (probably because it was written before 2018) was that in 2018 the ALA removed Wilder's name from the award citing her books were "culturally insensitive." This broke my heart a little. She had only done what every writer is encouraged to do - she wrote what she knew.

[Stacy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a big fan of the “Who Was” series and once again, this one is no exception! A well written, very interesting look at who Laura Ingalls Wilder really was. We are very familiar with places and names from her story because of the tv show, “Little House on the Prairie” but this book puts names and places into perspective and an accurate timeline.

I am currently reading the second book of Laura’s series to my 3rd grade son so I thought this book would be a very interesting biography to read to him. He enjoyed it so much, we read the whole book in one day. I love all the black and white drawing pictures in the book. Along with the Little House series, this biography is the perfect book to show our children how hard pioneer life really was!

Laura sure did work hard growing up and never seemed to complain about it! She also loved helping her sister after she became blind and even took a teaching job she didn’t care for in order to pay for her sister’s blind school! What a selfless sister! I also never realized how strong willed Laura was. Yet, you can see how her parents loved and guided her and how that strong willed nature payed off.

[Amanda up North · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well done condensed biography on Laura Ingalls Wilder.
If you're familiar with the Little House series, much of this will bring back fond memories of those books. It also includes information on her life that wasn't in the Little House series, such as her little brother and the Ingalls family's time in Iowa. Her's was an interesting life of pioneering and stories of times gone by, great stuff for young readers.

One error that drove my husband bonkers:
"In the fall, the Ingallses roasted the family pig to have meat for the winter."
For the sake of accuracy, they did not "roast" the entire pig like a luau or a frat party. They butchered once the weather was cold enough to keep the pork frozen, and preserved it for winter sustenance. In Little House in the Big Woods, Pa cures and smokes the hams and shoulders in a hollow tree. Ma renders the lard and boils the head to make headcheese. They make salt pork and sausage. The only thing they actually roast is the pig's tail!
I'm telling you, I love these books and would love to take part in proofreading them before they go to print.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Laura Ingalls Wilder is probably best know for her Little House books detailing life as settlers on the frontier that were also made into a television series.What may not be as widely known is that they are mostly based on her real life experiences. Who Was Laura Ingalls Wilder? by Patricia Brennan Demuth tells us this and much more about the life of Ms. Wilder and her experiences from being born in the Wisconsin wilderness and other adventures of living through hardships of living on the fringe of civilization; she basically wrote what she knew and lived. I find it interesting when knowing about an author's life experiences can show us the origins of some of their ideas for their writings.

[Halle Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

boring but good info

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have now read four Who Is/Who Was, What Was, etc. books. Since I am a huge Little House fan, of course, I had to pick up this copy and see how they managed to condense all of Laura's life and travels into a 100 page book. Overall, I think Patricia did a nice job. I appreciated all of the sidebars with descriptions of additional historic events to provide context such as the Homestead Act of 1862 and the Great Dakota Boom.

I did learn a few new facts. "Settlers made sod houses by cutting 'bricks' out of the grass-covered ground. Then they laid the bricks root-side up so the bricks could grow into one another" (26). I didn't realize the grasshopper swarms kept destroying all the crops for five whole years (36). I thought it was less than that. The name of the man who offered Laura her first teaching job at fifteen years old was Louis Bouchie, and the Bouchies, not the Brewsters as she renames them in These Happy Golden Years, were the ones she stayed with (77). Laura's first book was published during the Great Depression (which I knew), but I love this quote: "It was 'the book that no depression could stop,' she said later" (95). Laura never accepted any money for her books translated into Braille in honor of Mary (99). The US government gave Japan and Germany copies of Laura's books after World War II in hopes this would educate them about American pioneers (99).

I did have a few issues with this book and had to lower one star. One thing people don't realize is Laura did actually go to school in Pepin, Wisconsin, so this book is incorrect when it says Mary and Laura started school in Walnut Grove. For her Little House books though, she did say school started in Walnut Grove. This is where it can get confusing. Additionally, Patricia never mentions Jack or the family's faith. These were both important not only in the books but in their real lives. Lastly, she did not include The First Four Years on her list of Little House books. I understand this book was published after Laura passed away and thus does not sound quite the same, but this definitely does count as part of the series. I always read this book as part of the Little House books. Each year I also read Old Town in the Green Groves as part of the series and would recommend other fans do the same as it explains Laura's time in Burr Oak, Iowa. Also, On the Way Home and West from Home are important books containing some of Laura's diary entries and letters. Overall, I would recommend kids read Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Biography because it covers more of her life than this one and is still geared towards elementary-aged readers.

[Gemma Kilgore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pioneer woman, author, teacher, and loving wife, mother, and sister are words to describe Laura Ingalls Wilder. As a young girl in the 19th century, Laura possessed a great love for the prairie, adventure, and learned how to endure unexpected hardships at an early age. She was a stellar student in school, a dedicated reader, and well-liked among the other girls and boys. Her family, consisting of Ma, Pa, Mary, Carrie, and eventually little Grace move their lives several times throughout the Midwest, learning about the Osage tribe (whom was eventually pushed off by the government), grieving over the death of young brother Freddy, and understanding how to run a homestead. Through various misfortunes of wild, crop-destroying grasshoppers, malaria, freezing temperatures, and leaving everything behind for better employment opportunities, Laura realizes how important family is and that love and courage can help deal with the hard things in life.

When her older sister Mary, whom Laura couldn't be any more different from, falls terribly ill and loses her eyesight, Laura trained herself to observe details and bring them alive in word. Later on, when Mary received an opportunity to attend Iowa's school for the blind, Laura accepted a teaching job she initially did not want to help pay for Mary's enrollment. The school was 12 miles away from Laura's home in De Smet, and she stayed with a host family; however, she is terribly homesick and it is arranged for Almanzo Wilder, a well-known young man in De Smet, to transport her home every weekend. Although 10 years her senior, Almanzo and Laura fall in love, get married, and have a daughter named Rose. Rose becomes a well-respected journalist who eventually helps her mother publish her eight-book series, "Little House on the Prairie."

***"The Little House on the Prairie was and still is one of my favorite childhood books and TV show series, as there are many important messages and different experiences represented within both media. Written by Patricia Brennan Demuth, "Who Was Laura Ingalls Wilder," is a wonderful biography for students in 3rd through 7th grade. Demuth includes different maps of the Ingalls' moves, separate informational pages on the Osage tribe, the Homestead Act, the Grasshopper Swarms, and Sod Houses, including a timeline of Laura's life and of simultaneously occurring world events. Demuth additionally adds on a list of other biographies for young readers to look at. This biography provides an in-depth look into prairie life and hardships on the frontier, showing a transition from undeveloped to civilized.

[Gretchen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Illustrated biography for middle graders. Pen and ink illustrations. 106 pages with illustration(s) on every double page spread. Ten chapters with an introductory chapter (part of the series formula) that is titled “ Who Was Laura Ingalls Wilder” which opens in 1874 with the Ingalls’s covered wagon traveling across the open prairie. Pa is in the second line of the 4-page intro, but this early chapter also introduces the fact that Ingalls wrote books for children and became a best-loved children’s author. Like Louisa May Alcott, Ingalls had a complicated life with frequent moves during her childhood. Demuth handles it all with grace. Includes bibliography, timeline of Stowe and the world, and a list of all the “Little House” books. Sidebars on sod houses, grasshopper swarms, and the Dakota Boom. Handles Laura’s sister Mary’s blindness well and records how it changed her and made her into a writer: “Laura trained herself to observe details and bring them alive in words.” That was because she needed to describe the world to her sister.

Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan. Tales for A Winter’s Night. Read by William

[Kyle Padgett · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book I read is Who Was Laura Ingalls Wilder. This book was written by Patricia Brennan Demuth. This book is about a girl who was part of a Pioneer Family. They traveled West by covered wagon. Air and her family lived in a Little House on the Prairie. She was an author that wrote the beloved series of Little House books. In Laura's lifetime she did a lot of traveling. She was there when the invention of the train, airplane, computer, television and electrical lighting.
I enjoyed this book very much. I like the way that there is a mix of the story where it talks about Laura and Rosie and how their partnership came to be. I thought this book was really great.
I recommend this book to anybody who wants to know how was like to live the life of a pioneer. It is also a good book if you would like to know how people traveled back in the day. This is also a great historical book to and from.

[Nicole Wrightson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a book I really wanted to share with my daughter. I loved her books since I read the first one in school. My mom and me both loved them and soon I hope my daughter will love them as well.

This one held a few surprises for me. I thought I knew a lot about Laura. Mostly because I read the books based on her life. But I didn't know that she had a brother that only lived for nine months. She never talked about him again either. But she lived an amazing and well traveled life.

I mean she has seen so much in her years. She saw wild wolves, crossed rivers, played in prairies, seen a winter so harsh that if it wasn't for two men, most of a town would have died. She worked hard with her family doing chores that now days a child would never know how to do.

Sadly her family tree died out. But at least her memories live on.

[Melodie Ferrin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was, unfortunately, one of the most boring Who Was books I have read. Most of it is about her childhood and moving from place to place. It takes over 70 pages for much else to happen. It takes over 90 pages (almost the end of the book) to get to any mention of Laura’s writing career. I understand it started later in her life, but still. This book is even for children, but I don’t think it was written in a way that would be very interesting to them. And, despite how short these books are, this one felt difficult to get through. I have not read any of the Little House on the Prairie books, but according to other reviewers, this book seems to be just a rather dry retelling of those books, and it makes Laura Ingalls Wilder sound like just a regular person who wrote books about her experiences and they became popular. I may check out the books. However, I did learn about some history.