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My Love for All Things Laura Ingalls Wilder

Picture from www.readingrainbow.com

When I was a little girl my aunt bought me a copy of Little House in the Big Woods for a holiday gift (I can't remember what holiday) and I completely fell in love with Laura Ingalls Wilder.  I wish I had a picture of my copy of this book because it is very obvious that it was well-loved.  My aunt continued to buy me each book in the series for holidays and birthdays until I had the full series.  I devoured each book and read them over and over again all the way up through my teen years.  I had the Little House cookbook and a Mary and Laura porcelain doll and I dreamed of living in the pioneer days.  I even read a biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder when I was fourth or fifth grade.  I just thought she was awesome.

Fast forward to now, I still have my entire set of Little House books and they look much like the picture above.  They are in a box at my mom's house and I can't wait to get them out to share with Julia.  What's even more fun is that now that I live in the Midwest, I live within driving distance of all of the Laura Ingalls Wilder museums, one of which is located in the same state that I live in.  You can bet when Julia is older, we will be visiting them all.  One of my fellow coworkers is also a LIW fan so we have spent a lot of time fan girling about her books and her life.  (Yes, I'm a nerd, I know.)

Why am I posting this random Laura Ingalls Wilder love fest, you ask?  Missouri State University is currently offering a Massive Open Online Class (MOOC) on Laura Ingalls Wilder's life and early works.  It's a free eight week class and it's open to anyone.  I'm currently enrolled and I think it's pretty awesome.  In addition to reading about Wilder, there are lectures to watch and discussions to participate in.  We will also be reading Wilder's first four books this semester as well as Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Writer's Life. I'm really enjoying it!  We will start reading her books next week and I will be posting reviews of them here.  I haven't read her books since I was in high school so I look forward to reading them as an adult.  

If anyone is interested in joining in on the class, you can check it out here!  You can participate as much or as little as you want.

Have any of you read the Little House books?  If not, are there any books you read as a child that really touched you?
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Comments

  1. KristenOctober 26, 2014 at 10:42 AM

    I didn't read LIW until I was in college and I suspect that is too old to pick up the magic for the first time. But how very cool that the class is out there and freely available. I might have to share with a friend of mine who is a huge fan.

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  2. ShoshanahOctober 26, 2014 at 3:15 PM

    When I read The Little House books in 4th grade I actually read my mom's old copies. I still actually have them, but they're pretty much falling apart at this time. Technically still readable, although I'm not sure they'll last long enough to be read by any daughters I might have. Although I have been wanting to reread the series lately, and I do think they're in good enough condition to make that happen!

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