DIY Homeschooler

The World of Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Frontier Landscapes that Inspired the Little House Books by Marta McDowell takes a look at the locations and landscapes encountered and detailed in the Little House books.

The hardcover print version is nearly 400 pages and would make a wonderful coffee table book to be visited and revisited by all members of the family.

Full of maps, plants, vegetables, letters, diaries, photographs, and illustrations. This is certainly a book most homeschoolers will want on the shelf!

Beyond history, her books were about natural history. Laura discussed weather and land forms. She observed plants and the animals that depended on them. She foraged wild berries and picked wildflowers. And long before she was a writer, Laura Ingalls Wilder was a gardener and farmer, growing food for the table and raising crops for sale. She lived the farmer’s covenant with the wider natural world, tending soil, plants, and animals to sustain herself and her family.

The World of Laura Ingalls Wilder won the Garden Writers Association 2018 Silver Medal of Achievement.

Amazingly researched and well-written and filled with interesting connections. The World of Laura Ingalls Wilder is one of those “must-have” books while working through our free Laura Ingalls Wilder unit.

Highly recommended!

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Additional Resources

Little House on the Prairie
The series that started it all. Highly recommended!

Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Unit Study
Our free unit study with complete background information and tons of resources!

7 Helpful Gardening Resources
If you are into gardening, you might also appreciate these resources.

Little House in the Ozarks ~ Review
Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote articles published in farm journals and women’s magazines during an interesting period in American history. This is one of our favorites!