Laura Ingalls Wilder

by Alexandra Wallner

The story of the author, who grew up on the American frontier.

Genres: Biography, Picture Books, Nonfiction, History, Childrens

30 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Alexandra Wallner was born in Germany. Not able to speak English when she immigrated to the United States, she almost flunked first grade. But with the help of comic books--Uncle Scrooge, Donald Duck, Katy Keene, Little Lulu--she learned her new language. Words and pictures together lit the spark for her future career.

After graduating from Pratt Institute’s Fine Art Program with an MFA and enjoying a brief stint in magazine design, she started collaborating with her husband John in creating children’s books.

Not limited to a love for children's books, Alex and John have a passion for renovating and working in old houses. In Woodstock, N. Y. they renovated an 1850’s farmhouse. They restored an 1865 townhouse in Philadelphia and remodeled a 1920's Maine island cottage.

During the long Maine winters, Alex started taking notes for a story about Sylvia and Max Saltwater and their encounters with island folk. The notes evolved into PINOCCHIO ISLAND.

They started thinking about warmer places to live when Alex became weary of slipping on ice. Breaking precedence, they moved to a warm climate into a newly built Florida house. Unfortunately soon after, they experienced three hurricanes in six weeks.

Continuing their gypsy ways, they moved to Merida, Yucatan, Mexico where they restored a mid-nineteenth century casa and added two studios in the back of the garden.

They care for an elderly Jack Russell, a family of cats, a rambunctious iguana, and a sprinkling of geckos.

Alex threw out the moving boxes and swears this is her final home.

Reviews

[Maxwell Vahila · Rating 2 out of 5]

Teaches a lot about the Person on the cover.

[Scout Who · Rating 3 out of 5]

very basic info, but nice artwork

[Abby Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

]I enjoyed this book; it started as a basic bibliography, so I was not interested at first but reading further into the book grabbed my attention. I have learned about the settlers moving West, all of the hard times they encountered along the way, and stories of once they arrived at their destination, but I have never read a personal story from someone involved in moving West. Laura went through a lot as a young child, something today's children or myself have never experienced, so reading her encounters is impressive. She moved so many times it was crazy, but her family never gave up hope; they just kept pushing. Once she met her lover and husband, Manly, her life changed. She had to move a couple of times with Manly because he was ill, and the snowstorms whipped out their homes and crops, but her life settled down after that. They bought a piece of land and created a farm. She began her writing career writing stories of her life until she was published in a newspaper. She then became an author and created many books based on her life; the books were all hits. Laura wrote, "It is still best, to be honest and truthful: to make the most of what we have; to be happy with the simplest pleasures, and be cheerful and have courage when things go wrong. I wanted the children now to understand things about the beginnings of things, to know what is behind the things they see-what made America as we know it." Her message was at the end of the book, which I loved.

[Cynthia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This little picture book nicely summarized the joys and hardships of Laura Ingalls Wilder's amazing life as a pioneer girl. A subject that has been dear to my heart since I discovered Little House in my 10th year, I loved every minute of this little biography.

[Joan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the folk art style of the illustrations. Absolutely wonderful! Never get enough of reading about the lifetime of Laura Wilder. Such a great contributor to Children’s Literature and American Women’s history she has made. I really enjoyed the writing style of Alexandra Wallner as well.

[David Freudenburg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picture book biography for children.

[Stephene · Rating 4 out of 5]

1st grade—read aloud, 2nd & 3rd independent reading
Wallner’s simple, yet detailed illustrations evoke emotion and feelings of pioneer days past. They fill each page in a variety of hues, including browns, blues and greens. Each aids the reader in becoming connected with the informative, but entertaining text on Wilder’s life. The vocabulary is targeted for fluent readers, but is limited to a few sentences on each page, encouraging first graders to try reading it on their own. Students will connect with Wilder and be enticed to read more about this famous author’s fascinating life.
Related content: Language Arts, Social Studies, Science
Lesson Idea: Students will write a poem about Laura Ingalls Wilder’s life.

[Shanna Gonzalez · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a picture book biography, illustrated in a folk-art style of painting that begins to capture the spirit and warmth of the Little House books. It is really the paintings that make this book interesting; most author biographies are read when the author's works are already familiar, and this book seems to be intended as a picture-book summary of the series. It is a challenge to cover so many events in a few pages; the Ox-Cart Man is a book from a similar era that covers less time and is more effective. Still, this could make a nice introduction, read once or twice just before beginning the series.

[Ramona · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about female write Laura Ingalls Wilder. The story explores the life in the mid 1800's - how people lived. It also talks about family life and hardships growing up in that time period. This is a good book to use studying about women in history. This is a great book to use in a Social Studies class when talking about migration and settlers. The pictures are done in a folk style art. This book can be used in grades K-2 reading level: 4.1

[Michael Fitzgerald · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hmmm - what is the point of this book? You have read the Little House books and you want to know about the author. So, 90% of the book just tells those same stories again (badly). Turns out you already know all that. Then there are a few pages that tell how things ended up for Laura. The illustrations are definitely not in the same league as Garth Williams.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a well-done kid biography on LIW. My daughter thought it was "stressful" but "real-life." Well yes, they did mention lots of the stress and sadness of her life so you'll have to be prepared for that. The illustrations were a nice style and added a lot.

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great classic. I would highly recommend it to a friend.

[Sophia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked learning about Laura's life. It was really fascinating! I think she was a wonderful woman!

[Julianna]

This a great old fashion book. It has good characters.