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Laura Ingalls Wilder's childhood is an open book. Eight books, to be precise. 

The "Little House on the Prairie" series provides a mostly true glimpse into Wilder's Midwest frontier upbringing — but her adult life is not nearly as well-documented.

Wilder fans got a glimpse into that life with 

 of "Pioneer Girl," Wilder's annotated autobiography. Now, Wilder scholar William Anderson has compiled more than 400 of Wilder's letters for an unprecedented view of the writer's life.

"The Selected Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder"

 includes letters to family members, friends and fans. Anderson scoured museums, archives and private collections for find them. The letters date from 1894, when Wilder was 27, until 1956, when she was 89. 

Here are two excerpts from the collection.

In this first excerpted letter from 1936, Wilder writes to her daughter Rose, who played an integral role in shaping the books, about life in Minnesota and their home on Plum Creek. ("Manly" is short for Almanzo, Wilder's husband.)


In 1949, the city of Detroit named a library after Wilder. According to Anderson, it was the first time the city had named a public building after a living person or a woman. 

Wilder was unable to travel to the opening ceremony of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Branch Library, as, she wrote, "Mr. Wilder's general health is better but he is ninety-two years old and not strong." 

She sent the following letter to be read in her absence.

The Selected Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder 

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Tracy Mumford

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A new collection of more than 400 letters from Wilder to her friends, family and fans provides an unprecedented look into the writer's life and her time in Minnesota.

'The Selected Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder'

Dive into Laura Ingalls Wilder's life through her letters

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