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15 reviews for:
A Little House Traveler: Writings from Laura Ingalls Wilder's Journeys Across America
Laura Ingalls Wilder
3.83 AVERAGE
15 reviews for:
A Little House Traveler: Writings from Laura Ingalls Wilder's Journeys Across America
Laura Ingalls Wilder
3.83 AVERAGE
This is a combination of On the Way Home, West from Home (both I had already read) with The Road Back. The Road Back details a car (?!) trip that Laura and Almanzo take back to De Smet. Initially, I was excited at the prospect. But, then realized that Laura was 64 and Almanzo 74. So, Ma, Pa and Mary were long gone. They end up visiting Grace and then Carrie. Laura spends more time discussing the cost of land & how much they spent on gas, food and lodging each day than anything else. No mention of when or how the others passed away. Though, it does answer some questions of what became of Laura after the series ended. Overall, this wasn't very satisfying, though.
I think that those who suggest Rose wrote the Little House books are completely wrong. Laura is a beautiful writer!
Wagons, Trains & Automobiles
I grew up reading my mum's copies of the Little House and Anne of Green Gables books, and I hope at some point to read these to my own children, and pass my love onto a new generation. For some reason, despite my frequent forays into the Little House spin offs (Caroline/Rose), this has been sitting forgotten on my shelf.
This is a collection of three periods of time throughout Laura's life - firstly the 1894 journey from South Dakota to Missouri. Then letters that Laura sent back home to Almanzo, while she was visiting Rose in San Francisco and then lastly, diary entries covering their journey back "home" after 40 years to South Dakota.
The first two books, I purchased recently, before realising my mistake, as these are both included in this volume, which I have had for sometime. So you can collect these individually, On The Way Home and West From Home. These are both pretty cheap to buy individually, but had I realised I already owned them, in this volume, i would not have purchased them. However, the last part, The Road Back, does not seem to have been published individually, so this volume is worth picking up for that. The individual copies do seem to have covers that tie in with the various LHOTP editions that are out there, which is perhaps why they were published separately - this edition seems to be more aimed at adult readers, but do not make the same mistake that I did.
As I said in my review of On The Way Home, most of the first part of this is covered in Little House On Rocky Ridge, from Rose's point of view, so if you have already read that, you will recognise a lot of what Laura mentions in her diary entries. this section is bookended with a lengthy intro/outro by Rose.
The second volume, West From Home, has a nearly 50-year-old Laura, taking the long train journey from Missouri to San Francisco, and having to change trains multiple times. This was in 1915, a distance of just over 2000 miles, to the West Coast, which made me feel exhausted just reading the multiple changes and waits she had. A lot has been made of whether Rose was Laura's "ghostwriter" of her famous Little House series, but from reading this, I would say that Laura had the details down perfectly, from some of her descriptions of the towns that she passed through and the things that she did. I haven't read any of Rose's own books for comparison, such as Let The Hurricane Roar and Free Land and it could be that she had a hand in helping/influencing her mother. As Laura does mention in Almanzo's letters that they are writing together. I disagree with a couple of the letters that Rose sends back to her father, describing "Mamma Bess" as being "fat" - from the sounds of things, she was probably eating really well for one of the few times in her life, and wasn't caring about counting pennies, since Rose seemed to be paying for stuff. Most of this book occurs after the last "fictionalised" account of Rose's life, which takes her up to meeting Gillette Lane.
The Road Back is quite a bittersweet section of the book, as a 64 year old Laura and a 74-year-old Almanzo travel by Buick from Missouri, to South Dakota, approximately about 750 miles. They go back to where they met and fell in love. Ma & Pa Ingalls (made famous by Michael Landon and Karen Grassle in the TV series) are long gone by this point (having died in 1902 and 1924 respectively). Mary had also died in 1928, but Laura drops in on Carrie and Grace, her two younger sisters - both married without kids from what I could gather, although one of them does have a stepson. It does come across as a bit that they didn't really stay in touch after their parents died, but this could have been due to the distance between them as well. (I half expected Nellie and Mrs Oleson to pop up - but as Laura has said, Nellie was a combination of girls.)
At the end of the book, there is a family tree, and some letters that were sent to Laura from children who had read and loved her books.
The last page, contains a poignant scan/photo of Laura's last letter to her daughter, a couple of days before she death in February 1957. This is something that I had been wanting to see throughout this volume, to see something of her hand writing.
There are other books out there that go deeper from what was written in the original series of books, but some of them can be quite expensive - I'm looking at you, Pioneer Girl. I will get around to getting them all at some point, but if you're looking for a cheaper alternative, to take you back in time, this is recommended. Just make sure you haven't bought it already.
I grew up reading my mum's copies of the Little House and Anne of Green Gables books, and I hope at some point to read these to my own children, and pass my love onto a new generation. For some reason, despite my frequent forays into the Little House spin offs (Caroline/Rose), this has been sitting forgotten on my shelf.
This is a collection of three periods of time throughout Laura's life - firstly the 1894 journey from South Dakota to Missouri. Then letters that Laura sent back home to Almanzo, while she was visiting Rose in San Francisco and then lastly, diary entries covering their journey back "home" after 40 years to South Dakota.
The first two books, I purchased recently, before realising my mistake, as these are both included in this volume, which I have had for sometime. So you can collect these individually, On The Way Home and West From Home. These are both pretty cheap to buy individually, but had I realised I already owned them, in this volume, i would not have purchased them. However, the last part, The Road Back, does not seem to have been published individually, so this volume is worth picking up for that. The individual copies do seem to have covers that tie in with the various LHOTP editions that are out there, which is perhaps why they were published separately - this edition seems to be more aimed at adult readers, but do not make the same mistake that I did.
As I said in my review of On The Way Home, most of the first part of this is covered in Little House On Rocky Ridge, from Rose's point of view, so if you have already read that, you will recognise a lot of what Laura mentions in her diary entries. this section is bookended with a lengthy intro/outro by Rose.
The second volume, West From Home, has a nearly 50-year-old Laura, taking the long train journey from Missouri to San Francisco, and having to change trains multiple times. This was in 1915, a distance of just over 2000 miles, to the West Coast, which made me feel exhausted just reading the multiple changes and waits she had. A lot has been made of whether Rose was Laura's "ghostwriter" of her famous Little House series, but from reading this, I would say that Laura had the details down perfectly, from some of her descriptions of the towns that she passed through and the things that she did. I haven't read any of Rose's own books for comparison, such as Let The Hurricane Roar and Free Land and it could be that she had a hand in helping/influencing her mother. As Laura does mention in Almanzo's letters that they are writing together. I disagree with a couple of the letters that Rose sends back to her father, describing "Mamma Bess" as being "fat" - from the sounds of things, she was probably eating really well for one of the few times in her life, and wasn't caring about counting pennies, since Rose seemed to be paying for stuff. Most of this book occurs after the last "fictionalised" account of Rose's life, which takes her up to meeting Gillette Lane.
The Road Back is quite a bittersweet section of the book, as a 64 year old Laura and a 74-year-old Almanzo travel by Buick from Missouri, to South Dakota, approximately about 750 miles. They go back to where they met and fell in love. Ma & Pa Ingalls (made famous by Michael Landon and Karen Grassle in the TV series) are long gone by this point (having died in 1902 and 1924 respectively). Mary had also died in 1928, but Laura drops in on Carrie and Grace, her two younger sisters - both married without kids from what I could gather, although one of them does have a stepson. It does come across as a bit that they didn't really stay in touch after their parents died, but this could have been due to the distance between them as well. (I half expected Nellie and Mrs Oleson to pop up - but as Laura has said, Nellie was a combination of girls.)
At the end of the book, there is a family tree, and some letters that were sent to Laura from children who had read and loved her books.
The last page, contains a poignant scan/photo of Laura's last letter to her daughter, a couple of days before she death in February 1957. This is something that I had been wanting to see throughout this volume, to see something of her hand writing.
There are other books out there that go deeper from what was written in the original series of books, but some of them can be quite expensive - I'm looking at you, Pioneer Girl. I will get around to getting them all at some point, but if you're looking for a cheaper alternative, to take you back in time, this is recommended. Just make sure you haven't bought it already.
It was nice to learn some new information about Laura Ingalls Wilder, and I have always loved the Little House series, but I honestly found this book to be a bit boring. These are her travel journals and personal letters, and some of it was noteworthy, but on the whole I don't really care much exactly what is growing on every acre of land from South Dakota to Missouri. Might be worth reading if you're really interested in her, but not my favorite book.
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
A Little House Traveler compiles the travelogue-style quick journaling of three trips the Wilders made. These are not polished, but Laura's roughed in thoughts while making these journeys giving insight into what making the journeys was like.
The first two trips in this one can be read separately as On the Way Home and West From Home and the third is mentioned a little in A Little House Sampler, but getting the full journal entries here was great. A Little House Traveler comes with photos and a few editorial notes from William Anderson and Rose Wilder Lane.
On the Way Home is the first chronologically and details out the journey Laura, Almanzo, and young Rose made by wagon when they moved from the drought-ridden De Smet, SD on a journey of several weeks to Mansfield, MO where they found their Rocky Ridge Farm.
West From Home finds a middle-aged Laura as a correspondent back to her husband Almanzo. She has taken a journey by train from Missouri and out to San Francisco to visit with their daughter, Rose Wilder Lane and her husband during the time of the San Francisco World's Fair. Laura details her journey for Almanzo and her letters show the hints at the soon to be authoress. Rose is already a successful journalist and plans to help her mother use her own life experiences to write for newspapers, magazines, and book publishers. I enjoyed the detail of a San Francisco emerging from the earthquake disaster, the way WWI touched lives, that period in Northern California and beyond, and the fair's splendid point.
The final piece was Laura journaling a road trip she and Almanzo took by motor car in their old age to finally get back to visit De Smet, see old acquaintances, see Grace and her husband and then go to the Black Hills area to visit with Carrie and her family. Laura has returned because she has recently sent in her first Little House books from publication and has returned to refresh her memory to complete the latter part of her story. Many days, her entries are succinct, but once they reach De Smet and her family, she fills in much that allows readers to see where the remaining Ingalls girls have gotten in their lives and allowed the reader to see 'modern' De Smet through Laura's eyes.
All three travel pieces added so much to what came after the Little House years for Laura, Manly, and Rose. I really enjoyed reading through these.
The first two trips in this one can be read separately as On the Way Home and West From Home and the third is mentioned a little in A Little House Sampler, but getting the full journal entries here was great. A Little House Traveler comes with photos and a few editorial notes from William Anderson and Rose Wilder Lane.
On the Way Home is the first chronologically and details out the journey Laura, Almanzo, and young Rose made by wagon when they moved from the drought-ridden De Smet, SD on a journey of several weeks to Mansfield, MO where they found their Rocky Ridge Farm.
West From Home finds a middle-aged Laura as a correspondent back to her husband Almanzo. She has taken a journey by train from Missouri and out to San Francisco to visit with their daughter, Rose Wilder Lane and her husband during the time of the San Francisco World's Fair. Laura details her journey for Almanzo and her letters show the hints at the soon to be authoress. Rose is already a successful journalist and plans to help her mother use her own life experiences to write for newspapers, magazines, and book publishers. I enjoyed the detail of a San Francisco emerging from the earthquake disaster, the way WWI touched lives, that period in Northern California and beyond, and the fair's splendid point.
The final piece was Laura journaling a road trip she and Almanzo took by motor car in their old age to finally get back to visit De Smet, see old acquaintances, see Grace and her husband and then go to the Black Hills area to visit with Carrie and her family. Laura has returned because she has recently sent in her first Little House books from publication and has returned to refresh her memory to complete the latter part of her story. Many days, her entries are succinct, but once they reach De Smet and her family, she fills in much that allows readers to see where the remaining Ingalls girls have gotten in their lives and allowed the reader to see 'modern' De Smet through Laura's eyes.
All three travel pieces added so much to what came after the Little House years for Laura, Manly, and Rose. I really enjoyed reading through these.
informative
medium-paced
This was pretty good. An interesting look at an amazing time in America. This is Laura Wilder's journal entries of her time leaving her home in Wisconsin to South Dakota with her family via wagon trail. Then another journey to visit her daughter Rose in California and her time there during the World's Fair. And last her entries to her daughter going back home to Wisconsin after a forty year gap but now in a Buick with the family dog. Very interesting to hear the troubles of the time and what places looked like and how much things cost.
I think what I most appreciated about this book is the chance to read Laura's unedited, unpolished voice. I'd read On the Way Home before, so I really focused this time on the San Francisco letters (West From Home) and The Road Back (Laura and Almanzo traveling back to De Smet in the 1930s to see Grace and Carrie, which I really loved).
this book is three travelogues in one, spanning the time between 1894 and 1930. All three accounts are quite interesting, but especially interesting is the detailed description of the city of San Francisco in 1915. Lots of fascinating details, as seen through the eyes of a country woman visiting. I really enjoyed these accounts of traveling in the late 19th and early to mid 20th century.
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
informative
reflective
medium-paced