To go along with our American pioneer unit study, we studied the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder.
I already knew quite a bit about her since I've been a lifelong Little House on the Prairie fan but I learned so much more from reading her biographies!
Laura was such an inspiring person, she had amazing work ethic, bravery, grit, and thoughtfulness. I truly admire her!
I wanted to share some of our favorite resources with you!
Little House on the Prairie series: This was obviously our go-to as Laura is the author and they are true stories from her life. They have made such great read alouds, my kids and I have loved them! They are descriptive, have fun stories, and teach so much about life during that time period.
Who Was Laura Ingalls Wilder, Little Author in the Big Woods, and Prairie Girl: These are all great biographies about Laura and her life. They were simple to read and had black and white illustrations.
Little House Picture Books: We have owned and loved these for years! They are portions of the chapter books with colorful illustrations. Perfect for young kids especially if they aren't interested in sitting for the series! Because we had read these many times before starting the chapter books, my kids were already very familar with the stories in Little House in the Big Woods and Little House on the Prairie.
Pioneer Girl: This is another great Laura biography but in picture book form! The illustrations are fantastic.
Laura Ingalls Wilder: Another biography but in an early reader form. My oldest used this for her independent reading during our unit.
My Little House Cookbook: This was such a fun addition to our studies! It's full of recipes that are from excerts in Laura's books. It was fun to read about them making or eating the recipe then trying it out for ourselves! Some of our favorites were homemade butter, pancake men, molasses cookies, and pumpkin pie. There's a Little House website that has similar type recipes here.
The World of Little House: This one is SO good! It has a little bit of everything. If I were going to buy one Little House resource (other than the book series) it would defintely be this one! It has a short biography of Laura in the front along with her family tree and family photos. It has an overview of each book Laura wrote along with a house map, recipes, and activities that go along with it. The book is colorful, vibrant, and just beautiful!
Dear Laura: This was a fun one to read! It's a collection of letters and pictures that children sent to Laura after reading her books. It was cool to see what life was like during her publications and so sweet to hear how much children loved her books. Did you know that she answered every fan mail letter she got (by hand!) because she didn't want to disappoint the children? How thoughtful is that?!
Although it was fun to read and added to our study, I wouldn't suggest buying this one. In my opinion, it's not one that would get read over and over again- it worked perfectly as a library checkout though!
The Little House Guidebook: This one was very useful before going on our Little House road trip. It talked about where the sites were, what there was to see there, historic background of the site, and hours and admission. Make sure to get the updated version though!
These were a few extra books that my library had on Laura and her life. I didn't know that she had writings besides her book series so it was fun to learn more about her through those! These were for me as they were a bit longer and didn't have as many pictures, I didn't add them to my kids' studies.
While these books weren't about Laura Ingalls Wilder, they went along great with our American pioneer theme. Our favorite were the two picture books, Papa and the Pioneer Quilt and Apples to Oregon. Both have beautiful illustrations and captured the hardship and happy times of being a pioneer.
Some other fun and great resources!
I hope you were able to find some wonderful resources for you and your little pioneers! ;)
Happy learning!
-Cassie
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