Little House on the Prairie
Little House on the Prairie (
1935) is a children's book by
Laura Ingalls Wilder. It went on to become a series of books, multiple TV series, multiple TV movies, and a cartoon. A historical site in Kansas also uses the name.
Books
The
Little House series (also known as "Laura Years") was written by
Laura Ingalls Wilder and based on decades-old memories of her childhood in the
Midwest region of the
United States during the late
19th century. The best-known of the books is
Little House on the Prairie, first published in 1935. The books are told in the third person, with Laura Ingalls acting as the central character and protagonist and are generally classified as
fiction rather than as
autobiography. Wilder's daughter, author and political theorist
Rose Wilder Lane, apparently assisted her mother with the editing of the books. The depth of her involvement, and the extent of her influence on the theme and content of the books, has been the subject of much debate in recent years.
The books have remained continuously in print since their initial publication by
Harper & Brothers, and are considered classics of American
children's literature. Several of them were named
Newbery Honor books. They remain widely read, primarily by girls aged 8–12. Anecdotal evidence suggests, however, that they are also popular among older girls and adult women who first encountered them as children. The edition of the series currently in print contains illustrations by
Garth Williams.
The success of the
Little House series has spawned many related books including two series ("Little House Chapter Books" and "My First Little House Books") that present episodes from the original stories in condensed and simplified form for younger readers. Other related titles include sticker and craft books, cookbooks, diaries, calendars, and so on.
Also of interest are four series of books that expand the
Little House series to include five generations of Laura Ingalls Wilder's family. The "Martha Years" and "Charlotte Years" series, by Melissa Wiley, are fictionalized tales of Laura's great-grandmother in late
18th century Scotland and grandmother in early
19th century Massachusetts. The "Caroline Years" series narrates the girlhood of Caroline Quiner, Laura's mother, in
Wisconsin. The "Rose Years" (originally dubbed "Rocky Ridge Years") series follows
Rose Wilder Lane from childhood in
Missouri to early adulthood in
San Francisco, and was written by her surrogate grandson
Roger MacBride.
Noted children's author
Cynthia Rylant has written a slender volume,
Old Town in the Green Groves, that covers the two years in Laura's life between
On The Banks of Plum Creek and
By The Shores of Silver Lake, which are unnarrated in the original series of books. Two volumes of Laura's letters and diaries have also been issued under the
Little House imprint:
On The Way Home and
West From Home.An additional series,
The Days of Laura Ingalls Wilder, by T.L. Tedrow offers tales of Laura's early adulthood in Missouri; unlike the core
Little House books, the Tedrow series is not drawn from episodes in Wilder's life.
Several of the characters featured in the series were based on people Laura knew in real life; however she often changed names or combined traits of several people to create one character. For example, "Nellie Oleson" was a conglomeration of three people Laura knew: Nellie Owens, Genevieve Masters, and Stella Gilbert. Nellie Owens is the main basis for Nellie Oleson in On the Banks of Plum Creek, the Nellie Oleson of Little Town on the Prairie is mainly Gennie Masters, and Stella is the Nellie featured in These Happy Golden Years. Laura also changed names to protect the privacy of those she wrote about; the Brewster home where she boards for her first teaching job was actually the Bouchie household.
In recent years, controversy has surrounded the role of Wilder's daughter, author and political theorist
Rose Wilder Lane, as either a silent editor or
ghostwriter of her mother's books.
Wilder's Little House books
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Little House in the Big Woods (
1932)
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Farmer Boy (
1933) - about her husband's childhood on a farm in New York
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Little House on the Prairie (1935)
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On the Banks of Plum Creek (
1937)
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By the Shores of Silver Lake (
1939)
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The Long Winter (
1940)
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Little Town on the Prairie (
1941)
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These Happy Golden Years (
1943)
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The First Four Years (
1971, published posthumously)
Critical reviews
In recent years, some have written books and articles that challenge one or many aspects of the stories. See, for example,
Constructing the Little House by
Ann Romines, or the articles by
Anita Clair Fellman. Others have critiqued Wilder's portrayal of American Indians. See the on-line review of
Little House on the Prarie written by an
Osage man (the Osage Indians figure prominently in the story)[
1].
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Little House title card |
Little House On The Prairie was an
American one-hour dramatic
television program that aired on the
NBC network from
1974 to
1982. During the 1982-
83 television season, the series was broadcast with the new title
Little House: A New Beginning (see below).
The show was a loose adaptation of
Laura Ingalls Wilder's best-selling series of
Little House on the Prairie books.
Michael Landon starred as
Charles Ingalls,
Karen Grassle played
Caroline Ingalls,
Melissa Gilbert played Laura Ingalls,
Melissa Sue Anderson played
Mary Ingalls, and the twins
Lindsay and Sidney Greenbush (credited as Lindsay Sidney Greenbush) played
Carrie. Although it deviated from the original books in some respects, the television series, which was set in
Walnut Grove, Minnesota, was one of the few long-running successful dramatic family shows (and still it is in syndication). Although predominantly a drama, the program did have some comedic moments, thanks to supporting cast members such as Mr. Edwards (played by
Victor French) and the Oleson family:
Nels Oleson (
Richard Bull),
Harriet Oleson (
Katherine MacGregor),
Willie Oleson (
Jonathan Gilbert), and
Nellie Oleson (
Alison Arngrim).
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The cast of Little House. Clockwise from top: Landon, Greenbush, Gilbert, Grassle and Anderson. |
While Nels (proprietor of the town's general store, Oleson's Mercantile) was a true friend of the Ingalls, Harriet was not; she often caused trouble by spreading malicious
gossip or scheming behind her husband's back to foreclose on the Ingalls' farm. Nellie, the Oleson's oldest child, was a carbon copy of her mother, often very nasty and scheming to humiliate Laura. Willie, five years younger than Nellie, was a typical mischievous child and often aided his sister in her schemes. Both Nellie and Willie would change their personalities for the better in later seasons - Nellie after she married Jewish businessman Percival Dalton (played by
Steve Tracy) in
1980; Willie in early 1982 after having a heart-to-heart talk with Laura, who was by then his teacher at Walnut Grove School. However, much to Nels' chagrin, Harriet never changed, always remaining true to her nasty, gossipy, scheming, troublemaking self. Furthermore, the Olesons adopt another "reincarnation" of Nellie -- Nancy Oleson.
Also appearing in the series were
Merlin Olsen (as Jonathan Garvey),
Dabbs Greer (as Rev. Robert Alden, pastor of Walnut Grove Church),
Karl Swenson (as Lars Hanson, the town's founder and proprietor of the town's mill) and
Kevin Hagen (as Dr. Hiram Baker, the town's doctor).
Malcolm in the Middle creator,
Linwood Boomer, appeared as Mary Ingalls' teacher turned husband, Adam Kendall, whom she met at the Blind School in the (
1978-
1979) season. The Ingalls family adopted 10-year-old Albert Quinn (
Matthew Laborteaux), whom the family met when they moved (briefly) to Winoka in a series of 1978 episodes. Many of these characters were fictional, but still contributed to make Little House a success.
In
1979,
Dean Butler joined the cast as
Almanzo Wilder, the man 8 years Laura's senior that she would soon marry. Several episodes during the 1979-1980 season dealt with their budding relationship as it blossomed into true love. Almanzo and Laura were married in the 1980-1981 season première.
Later, the Ingalls family adopted more children. In 1981, the family welcomed 12-year-old James (
Jason Bateman) and 9-year-old Cassandra Cooper (
Missy Francis), a brother and sister who were orphaned after their parents were killed in an accident. Also in 1981, the Olesons adopted the young orphan
Nancy (
Allison Balson).
See the complete
list of Little House on the Prairie characters, for a bigger list.
Michael Landon directed a majority of the episodes. However, other people such as
Leo Penn and Victor French occasionally took their turn at the director's chair.
Little House on the Prairie was largely filmed on
Big Sky Ranch at
Simi Valley, California, not in Minnesota. Camera vistas sometimes pick up the rugged terrain, which is too mountainous for Minnesota. In one particular episode Laura runs away and climbs up a mountain. However, there were no mountains on the prairie! Nevertheless, the
oak savanna is considered to be representative of the real
Walnut Grove. Other television programs, including
Gunsmoke and
The Dukes of Hazzard, were produced at the same Big Sky Ranch lot.
The entire series has been released on DVD. The DVD sets include exclusive interviews by "Little House" historian Patrick Loubatiere with actors Alison Arngrim, Dabbs Greer and Dean Butler.
See the complete
list of Little House on the Prairie episodes.
Spin-offs and sequels
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The Ingalls girls frolicking down the hill. |
A spin-off series of sorts,
Little House: A New Beginning, built around star
Melissa Gilbert, lasted only one season and aired from September 1982 until March 1983. A new family, the Carters (
Stan Ivar as John,
Pamela Roylance as Sarah,
Lindsay Kennedy as eldest son Jeb and
David Friedman as youngest son Jason), moved into the Ingalls' old home. Meanwhile, Almanzo and Laura (who had since given birth to a daughter, Rose), took in their niece, Jenny (played by
Shannen Doherty), when Almanzo's brother died.
Three made-for-television movie sequels followed:
Little House: Look Back to Yesterday (1983),
Little House: The Last Farewell (1984), and
Little House: Bless All the Dear Children (1984).Two other
Little House movies were made in conjunction with the Landon series: the
1974 pilot for the program and
Little House Years (1979), a
Thanksgiving special/
clip show that aired in the middle of Season 6.
Books
*"Walnut Grove Terre Promisse" by
Patrick Loubatière (1998),
*"Little House on the Prairie from A to Z" by Patrick Loubatiere (published October
2005).
Jackanory (1966, 1968)
British cartoon series that was released between
1965 and
1996. In
1966 there were five short episodes based on "Little House in the Big Woods" released and in
1968 - next five, this time based on the "Farmer Boy" book.
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Laura the Prairie Girl (1975)
A Japanese animated version of the
Little House series was released in
1975 by
Nippon Animation Co. Ltd. under the title
草原の少女ローラ (
Sōgen no shōjō Laura; English:
Laura the Prairie Girl). It ran 26 episodes, about 24 minutes each.
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Beyond the Prairie (2000, 2002)
Beyond the Prairie: The True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder, two television movies produced by
Marcus Cole and aired in
2000 and
2002, presented episodes from the later books in the Little House series (from
The Long Winter to
The First Four Years).
The series starred
Richard Thomas as Charles Ingalls;
Lindsay Crouse as Caroline Ingalls;
Meredith Monroe as Laura Ingalls;
Barbara Jane Reams as Mary Ingalls;
Haley McCormick as Carrie Ingalls;
Walton Goggins as Almanzo Wilder; and
Skye McCole Bartusiak as Rose Wilder.
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Little House on the Prairie (2005)
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The cast. |
Made in
2004 and aired in April
2005, the six-hour (five-episode) miniseries
Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie was broadcast on
ABC as part of
The Wonderful World of Disney anthology series. Unlike the Landon series, the 2005 miniseries stayed fairly close to the spirit of the books
Little House in the Big Woods and
Little House on the Prairie. It was released on DVD on
March 28,
2006.
The miniseries starred
Cameron Bancroft as Charles Ingalls;
Erin Cottrell as Caroline Ingalls;
Kyle Chavarria as Laura Ingalls;
Danielle Chuchran as Mary Ingalls; and
Gregory Sporleder as Mr Edwards. It was directed by
David L. Cunningham.
*
2005 Miniseries DVD Review, at UltimateDisney.com
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Sign in front of Little House on the Prairie historic site in Kansas |
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The Surveyors House is a Laura Ingalls Wilder historic site in De Smet, South Dakota |
The state of
Kansas has designated the childhood home of the Ingalls at
Independence as a historic site, which is open to visitors. It is the location from which the events of the book
Little House on the Prairie take place. It includes a cabin modeled after the original (at the William Kurtis ranch), and the original post office. Much of the surrounding countryside retains its open and undeveloped nature.
De Smet South Dakota attracts many fans with its historic sites from the books
By the Shores of Silver Lake,
The Long Winter,
Little Town on the Prairie,
These Happy Golden Years, and
The First Four Years. From
1879 to
1894 the Ingalls family lived in De Smet and the family homestead, a house in town built by Charles Ingalls, the Brewster School where Laura taught, and the surveyor's home the family lived in between 1879 and
1880 are open to visitors. Additionally, the bodies of Charles, Caroline, Mary, Carrie and Grace Ingalls, and that of Laura and Almanzo's unnamed infant son are laid to rest in the De Smet Cemetery.
Mansfield,
Missouri is the chosen final home town of Laura. It was here, on her farm, that she wrote the "Little House" books. Each year the whole town celebrates with a festival, turning back the clock to the late 1800's. During the festival the town square becomes a showcase for handmade crafts. There is a big parade, and folk music is played from the gazebo in the park. There is an elaborate musical pageant. Laura, Almanzo and their daughter Rose are all laid to rest in the Mansfield Cemetery.
Walnut Grove,
Minnesota may be the most recognized name of all the towns Laura wrote about in her books, (although it is the only town she did not mention by name) because Michael Landon's television series "Little House on the Prairie" of the 1970s and 1980s was located here. Although the show depicts the family as living here through Laura's adulthood, in reality, they only lived here a few years.
In 1874, when Laura was seven years old, the family left their home near Pepin for the second time and settled just outside
Walnut Grove, Minnesota. Laura writes of her early years here in On the Banks of Plum Creek. The family lived in a dugout in the creek bank until Pa could build a house. Laura and Mary began school again, and made both friends (the Kennedy children) and enemies (Nellie Oleson).
Pepin,
Wisconsin was Laura's birthplace. Her birthplace is seven miles northeast of the village, and is marked by a replica cabin at the
Little House wayside (near
Lund, Wisconsin). Pepin celebrates her life every September with traditional music, craft demonstrations, a "Laura look-alike" contest, a spelling bee, and other events.
Laura's baby brother, Charles Frederic Ingalls (Freddy), was born in Walnut Grove on November 1, 1875, although Laura did not include this in her books because he only lived for nine months.
Pa had felt that
Minnesota would be "the land of milk and honey", but a plague of grasshoppers destroyed the wheat crops two years in a row. Pa was offered a job managing a hotel in Burr Oak, Iowa, and the family moved there in 1876. A year later, the family returned to Walnut Grove.
Laura was nearly 11 years old now, old enough to earn money for the family by babysitting and doing odd jobs. At first, the Ingalls family lived with their friends, the Ensigns. Pa built a house in town, and worked as a storekeeper, butcher, then carpenter.
In the spring of 1879, Mary became very ill. Her illness was followed by a stroke, which resulted in blindness. Soon afterward, Pa's sister Docia came from the Big Woods and offered him a job with the railroad going west. Though Ma wanted to remain in Walnut Grove, Pa felt a better future could be found in Dakota Territory. He accepted Docia's offer gladly. Thus ended the Ingalls' stay in Walnut Grove.
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List of Little House on the Prairie characters*
List of Little House on the Prairie episodes*
Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum, Walnut Grove, MN*
Complete guide to the world of little house on the prairie, and a special guide to pioneer life.*
Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial Society, located in De Smet, South Dakota
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The Little House archive, bibliography for the series, its spinoffs, and Little House scholarship.
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Ingalls family info*
Little House Encyclopedia, an unofficial fan site.
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Little House fan page*
other Little House fan page*
Little House fan page*
Little House forum*
Little House fan page
