Laura Ingalls Wilder

Bibliography: The Pioneer Experience

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Books by Laura Ingalls Wilder | Books About Laura Ingalls Wilder
Other Materials About Laura Ingalls Wilder The Westward Journey
Living on the Frontier Native Americans

BOOKS BY LAURA INGALLS WILDER

Little House in the Big Woods
Little House on the Prairie
Farmer Boy
On the Banks of Plumb Creek
By the Shores of Silver Lake
The Long Winter
Little Town on the Prairie
These Happy Golden Years
The First Four Years

BOOKS ABOUT LAURA INGALLS WILDER

• Anderson, William. Laura Ingalls Wilder, A Biography. HarperCollins, 1992.
• Anderson, William. Laura Ingalls Wilder Country. HarperCollins, 1990. Illustrations by Leslie A. Kelly
• Collins, Carolyn Strom. The World of the Little House. HarperCollins, 1996.
• Lasky, Kathryn. Searching For Laura Ingalls: A Reader's Journey. Macmillan, 1993. In this photo-essay, Kathryn Lasky, her husband and daughter set out to find the settings of all the Little House books.
• Walker, Barbara M. The Little House Cookbook: Frontier Foods From Laura Ingalls Wilder's Classic Stories. HarperCollins, 1995. Contains passages from the Little House books, frontier recipes, and is illustrated with Garth William's famous drawings.

OTHER MATERIALS ABOUT LAURA INGALLS WILDER

• Anderson, William. Musical Memories Of Laura Ingalls Wilder. A book and audiocassette. $19.95 Available from the Laura Ingalls Wilder Society, Headquarters-Gift shop, 105 Olivet Ave., Box 344, De Smet, SD 57231
• Little House Legacy: The World Of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Herbert Hoover Presidential Library. A video of the 1995 exhibit at the Library. To borrow call either Kathy or Mary at 319-643-5301.
• Meet The Newbery Author: Laura Ingalls Wilder. American School Publishers, P.O. Box 408, Hightstown, NJ 08520-9377. Filmstrip and audiocassette. (#MA508345-0) $45 Videocassette (ISBN# 87004763 ) $54 McGraw-Hill SRA Divsion; phone 1-800-843-8855.

THE WESTWARD JOURNEY

Picture Books and Easy Readers

• Ackerman, Karen. Araminta's Paint Box. Atheneum, 1990. When the family moves from Boston to California in 1847, Araminta and her paint box become separated, but through a series of new owners, the paint box finds its way to California.
• Bunting, Eve. Dandelions. Harcourt, 1995. Zoe and her family travel from their Minnesota homestead to the Nebraska territory where the grass seems to stretch forever.
• Byars, Betsy. Golly Sisters Go West. HarperCollins, 1986. An I Can Read Book. The Golly sisters travel in a covered wagon and entertain settlers throughout the Old West. Sequel: Golly Sisters Ride Again.
• Harvey, Brett. Cassie's Journey: Going West In The 1860's. Holiday, 1988. Told from the viewpoint of a small girl, the story relates the adventure, hardships and dangers of going west. Based on several accounts, many taken from Lillian Schlissel's Women's Diaries Of The Westward Journey.
• Hooks, William H. Pioneer Cat. Random, 1988. Step Into Reading series. A young girl smuggles a stray cat aboard a wagon train leaving Missouri for Oregon.
• Sorenson, Henri. New Hope. Lothrop, 1995. Grandpa tells the story of how his ancestors started a town because of a broken wagon axle.

Fiction

• Kudlinski, Kathleen V. Facing West: A Story Of The Oregon Trail. Viking, 1994. Once Upon America series. Ben, who has asthma, believes his family is making the arduous journey along the Oregon Trail just for him.
• Woodruff, Elvira. Dear Levi: Letters From The Overland Trail. Knopf, 1994. Twelve-year-old Austin Ives writes letters to his younger brother describing his three-thousand-mile journey from their home in Pennsylvania to Oregon in 1851.
• Van Leeuwen, Jean. Bound For Oregon. Dial, 1994. Based on memories recorded in the book, On To Oregon! A True Story Of A Young Girl's Journey Into The West, this is a fictionalized account of nine-year-old Mary Ellen Todd's trip on the Oregon Trail.

Nonfiction

• Bacon, Melvin. Bent's Fort: Crossroads Of Cultures On The Santa Fe Trail. Millbrook, 1996. Uses old diaries, letters, contemporary photographs and engravings to describe the fort and explain its significance.
• Erickson, Paul. Daily Life In A Covered Wagon. The Preservation Press, 1994. Join the Larkin family as they travel from Indiana to Oregon in 1853. Full of facts, drawings and photographs of artifacts. Pair with The Oregon Trail CD-ROM, published by MECC.
• Fisher, Leonard Everett. The Oregon Trail. Holiday, 1990. Charts the journey of those who followed the Oregon Trail, the obstacles and dangers they encountered and discusses the trail's eventual decline as a result of the completion of the transcontinental railroad.
• Levine, Ellen. ....If You Traveled West In A Covered Wagon. Scholastic, 1992. Easy to read questions and answers about going west.
• Schlissel, Lillian. The Way West: Journal Of A Pioneer Woman. Simon & Schuster, 1993. An adaptation of a diary of Amelia Stewart Knight written while she, her husband and seven children journeyed from Iowa to the Oregon territory in 1853.
• Wadsworth, Ginger. Along The Santa Fe Trail: Marion Russell's Own Story. Whitman, 1993. In 1852, eleven-year-old Marion Russell travels with her mother and older brother in a wagon train along the Santa Fe Trail.
• Women's Diaries Of The Westward Journey. Schocken Books, 1982. Excerpts from several diaries. Includes contemporary photographs and commentary by Lillian Schlissel. A good teacher resource.

CD-ROM

• The Oregon Trail I
• The Oregon Trail II. MECC, 6160 Summit Dr. N., Minneapolis MN 55430-4003. A simulation of a westward journey in which the player selects gear, stock, food, the wagon and deals with hardships and calamities along the way. Now available as an on-line interactive simulation.

LIVING ON THE FRONTIER

Picture Books and Easy Readers

• Brenner, Barbara. Wagon Wheels. Harper, 1978. An account of the settling of Nicodemus, Kansas, a black community founded after the Civil War.
• Coerr, Eleanor. Chang's Paper Pony. HarperCollins, 1988. In this easy reader, the Gold Rush is on and Chang and his Grandpa Lu come from China to work in a mining camp.
• Harvey, Brett. My Prairie Year: Based On The Diary Of Elenore Plaisted. Holiday, 1986. Based on the diary of the author's grandmother, this picture book describes a family's experiences in the Dakota Territory.
• Turner, Ann. Dakota Dugout. Macmillan, 1985. In this good read aloud, a woman tells her granddaughter what is was like to live in a sod house on the Dakota prairie a century ago. Also, Sewing Quilts, by the same author.

Fiction

• Armstrong, Jennifer. Black-Eyed Susan. Crown, 1996. Susan's mother cannot cope with life on the prairie and suffers bouts of depression and is unable to understand Susan's love of the prairie's beauty and solitude.
• Conrad, Pam. Prairie Songs. HarperCollins, 1985. Young Louisa Downing, who homesteads the Nebraska prairie with her family, watches as a young doctor's wife suffers from serious depression as she struggles to cope with life on the prairie.
• DeFelice, Cynthia. Weasel. Macmillan, 1990. Alone in the frontier wilderness in the winter of 1839 while his father is recovering from an injury, eleven-year-old Nathan runs afoul of a renegade killer known as Weasel and makes a surprising discovery about the concept of revenge.
• Gregory, Kristiana. The Legend Of Jimmy Spoon. Harcourt, 1990. The adventures of a young white boy living among the Shoshoni Indians during the early frontier days. Sequel: Jimmy Spoon And The Pony Express.
• Lawlor, Laurie. Addie Across The Prairie. Whitman, 1986. First in a series, this book tells of Addie who is reluctant to leave her home in Iowa as she and her family travel to South Dakota.
• MacLachlan, Patricia. Sarah, Plain And Tall. HarperCollins, 1985. When their father invites a mail-order bride to live with them in their prairie home, Caleb and Anna are captivated by her and hope she will stay. Sequel: Skylark.
• Nixon, Joan Lowery. Orphan Train series. Bantam. A young widow, Mrs. Kelley, realizes she can no longer give her children the life they deserve and sends them west on the orphan train in 1856.
• Turner, Ann. Grasshopper Summer. Macmillan, 1989. In 1874, eleven-year-old Sam and his family move from Kentucky to the southern Dakota Territory and a plague of hungry grasshoppers threatens their chance of survival.
• Whelan, Gloria. Night Of The Full Moon. Knopf, 1993. When she sneaks away to visit her friend, a young girl living on the Michigan frontier is caught up in the forced evacuation of a group of Potawatomi Indians from their tribal lands in the 1840's.
• Yep, Laurence. Dragonwings. HarperCollins, 1975. Depicts the lives of Chinese immigrants in San Francisco.

Nonfiction

• Beyond The Big River: Life On The Frontier. Herbert Hoover Presidential Library, 1996. A teacher's guide issued in conjunction with the 1996 pioneer exhibit at the library.
• Bial, Raymond. Frontier Home. Houghton, 1993. Describes the home life of pioneer families and shows equipment, implements and the inside and outside of frontier homes.
• Chu, Daniel. Going Home To Nicodemus: The Story Of An African-American Frontier Town And The Pioneers Who Settled It. Messner, 1995. Documented research and interviews with descendants of the original settlers of the all-black settlement of Nicodemus, Kansas.
• Cobb, Mary. The Quilt-Block History Of Pioneer Days With Projects Kids Can Make. Millbrook, 1995. This brightly illustrated book shows how traditional quilt designs tell the story of pioneer days.
• Conrad, Pam. Prairie Visions: The Life And Times Of Solomon Butcher. HarperCollins, 1991. A collection of photographs and stories about photographer Solomon Butcher and turn-of-the-century Nebraska.
• Freedman, Russell. Children Of The Wild West. Clarion, 1983. Well-chosen graphics and text depict the lives of pioneer families. Includes material on Native American children as well.
• Katz, William Loren. Black Women Of The Old West. Atheneum, 1995. Short vignettes illustrated by numerous black and white reproductions.
• Miller, Brandon Marie. Buffalo Gals: Women Of The Old West. Lerner, 1995. Teachers, homesteaders, Native Americans, Mexican Americans and Mormons are featured in this well-illustrated and beautifully written book.
• Rounds, Glen. Sod Houses On The Great Plains. Holiday, 1995. Simple prose and pastel drawings bring to life the hardy pioneers and their sod houses on the Great Plains.
• Schlissel, Lillian. Black Frontier: A History Of The African-American Heroes In the Old West. Simon & Schuster, 1996. Includes material about homesteaders, cowboys, miners and mail-order brides, professional people and adventurers.
• Warren, Andrea. Orphan Train Rider: One Boy's True Story. Houghton Mifflin, 1996. This illustrated history of orphan trains in the United States tells of one boy's journey from upstate New York to Texas where he lived with the Nailling family.

NATIVE AMERICANS

Fiction

• Dorris, Michael. Guests. Hyperion, 1994. In this coming-of-age story, Moss, a Native American boy experiences the annual harvest feast which threatens to be ruined by rude and ungrateful European guests.
• Locker, Thomas. The Land Of The Gray Wolf. Dial, 1991. A young Native American, Running Deer, and his people take special care of their land until they lose it to invading white settlers, who wear it out and leave it alone to recover on its own.
• O'Dell, Scott. Thunder Rolling In The Mountains. Houghton, 1992. A fictional account of the Nez Perce in the winter of 1877 when they fled from their home in Oregon and were eventually forced to relocate to a reservation in Montana.

Nonfiction

• Bruchac, Joseph. A Boy Called Slow: The True Story Of Sitting Bull. Tells of the great Lakota hero and how he earned this well-known name.
• Greene, Carol. Black Elk: A Man With A Vision. Childrens, 1990. A simple account of the life of Black Elk, the Oglala medicine man who had a vision of universal peace and how he saw his people's dream die at Wounded Knee.
• Freedman, Russell. Buffalo Hunt. Holiday, 1988. Examines the importance of the buffalo to the Native Americans and describes the hunting methods and uses found for the buffalo.
• Freedman, Russell. The Life and Death of Crazy Horse. Holiday, 1995. A well-researched account of the life of the great Sioux warrior who defeated Custer at the Battle of the Little Big Horn.
• Littlechild, George. This Land Is My Land. Children's Book Press, 1993. Using text and his own paintings, the author/artist describes the experiences of Native Americans to promote understanding among all peoples.
• O'Neill, Laurie A. Wounded Knee: The Death Of A Dream. Millbrook, 1994. Spotlight on America History series. A brief account of the battle and information about key military figures and Native American leaders.
• Oritz, Simon. The People Shall Continue. Children's Book Press, 1988. A good read aloud which traces the progress of the Native Americans from the time of the Creation to the present.
• Sneve, Virginia Driving Hawk. A First American Book Series. Holiday. Brief text and stunning illustrations present Native Americans yesterday and today.