Millions of readers of Little House on the Prairie believe they know Laura Ingalls--the pioneer girl who survived blizzards and near-starvation on the Great Plains, and the woman who wrote the famous autobiographical books. But the true saga of her life has never been fully told. Now, drawing on unpublished manuscripts, letters, diaries, and land and financial records, Caroline Fraser--the editor of the Library of America edition of the Little House...

Articles and fictional works by Laura Ingalls Wilder and her daughter Rose Wilder Lane, some of which were published in magazines of an earlier era, create a chronological account of their lives.

Young and in love, David and Molly Beaton have just celebrated their wedding and are off to start their life together as homesteaders. Headed for the Dakota Territory with a few dollars and plenty of enthusiasm, they proudly stake their claim and get to work. But the Beatons quickly learn that life on the prairie isn't always easy and they must endure everything from harsh winters to the birth of their first child to a swarm of grasshoppers, all without...

Rose meets a girl named Alva, a neighbor at her Missouri farm, and together they explore the hills, pick pokeweed, explore a cave, and have other adventures in the Ozark Mountains.

Rose, the eight-year-old daughter of Laura Ingalls Wilder, has adventures in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri with her neighbor Swiney Baird.

After moving from South Dakota, Rose Wilder eventually makes friends, proves herself to be the best speller in her class, and copes with a difficult teacher at her new Missouri school.