I really enjoyed reading this book because I am a huge fan of Laura Ingalls Wilder. I grew up reading the Prairie books. This nonfiction biography of her is interesting because it gave many details that were also in the series. There were several things that we different. Such as the death of her baby brother and moving out of Wisconsin originally. I think this book was pretty much a summary of the series crammed into one. It was missing all of the elements of adventure that Laura was able to capture in her bookks. ( )

This title tells the story of the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder, covering the events of her life from birth to death. As a child, I was a very big fan of the Little House series. This title includes bits of information I never knew about Laura Ingalls Wilder. For example, for part of her life, her family helped run a hotel. I also didn't realize just how often the Ingalls had to move. Though the adventures Laura had as a child and even as an adult are certainly interesting, the writing style of this title was rather dry. Anderson moves quickly from one event to the next, providing necessary fact, but leaving out details that would have made the work more interesting. Despite the somewhat boring text, the book still holds the reader's attention by moving quickly from one adventure to the next. I would recommend this book to fans of the Little House series. This would also be a good title for children learning about westward expansion. Simple language, a larger font size, and short chapter make this title accessible to children as young as 2nd grade. These same features make the book appropriate up to about the 4th grade level. Periodic illustrations by Renee Graef add to the character of the book and help create an image of what life was like not so long ago.

Good children's biography. ( )