Laura Ingalls-Wilder author page

Laura Ingalls Wilder biography

Laura Ingalls Wilder was an American author best known for the Little House series of children’s novels. The series, published between 1932 and 1943, is based on her childhood in a settler and pioneer family in the American Midwest during the late 19th century. The first book, Little House in the Big Woods, appeared in 1932, followed by titles including Farmer Boy (1933), Little House on the Prairie (1935), On the Banks of Plum Creek (1937), By the Shores of Silver Lake (1939), The Long Winter (1940), Little Town on the Prairie (1941), These Happy Golden Years (1943), and The First Four Years (published posthumously in 1971).

Wilder began writing columns for the Missouri Ruralist in 1911, focusing on farm life and homemaking. Her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, played a significant role in editing and shaping the Little House manuscripts. The books have been translated into multiple languages and adapted for television, stage, and radio. In 1954, the American Library Association established the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal, awarded for substantial and lasting contributions to children’s literature. The medal was renamed in 2018.

Wilder’s works remain in print and are published by HarperCollins. Her autobiography, Pioneer Girl, was published in 2014 by the South Dakota State Historical Society Press. The Little House series has sold millions of copies worldwide and continues to be widely read.