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Little House on the Prairie is a children's book by Laura Ingalls Wilder that was published in 1935. It is part of a series of books known collectively as the Little House series.

The Little House series is based on decades-old memories of Laura Ingalls Wilder's childhood in the Midwest region of the United States during the late 19th century. The best-known of the books is Little House on the Prairie. The books are told in the third person, with Laura Ingalls acting as the central character and protagonist, and are generally classified as historical fiction rather than as autobiography, although several of the later books are almost purely autobiographical. Wilder's daughter, author and political theorist Rose Wilder Lane, assisted her mother with the editing of the works. The depth of her involvement, and the extent of her influence on the theme and content of the books, has been the subject of some debate in recent years, but almost all Laura scholars and her biographers consider that the writing of the books was a tense but ultimately effective continuing collaboration between mother and daughter — Laura writing the books, Rose editing them.

The books have remained continuously in print since their initial publication by Harper & Brothers, and are considered classics of American children's literature. Several of them were named Newbery Honor books. They remain widely read. The edition of the series currently in print contains illustrations by Garth Williams. The books were also adapted into a long-running, popular American television series, Little House on the Prairie.

Wilder's Little House books

main: List of Little House books

• Little House in the Big Woods (1932)
• Farmer Boy (1933) — about her husband's childhood on a farm in New York
• Little House on the Prairie (1935)
• On the Banks of Plum Creek (1937)
• By the Shores of Silver Lake (1939)
• The Long Winter (1940)
• Little Town on the Prairie (1941)
• These Happy Golden Years (1943)
• The First Four Years (1971), unedited and published posthumously, possibly intended as a book in the series, possibly intended as a separate novel for adults — Laura never developed the manuscript beyond a first draft, and her ultimate intent is not known.
• West From Home (1974), unedited and published posthumously

Story

At the beginning of this story, Pa Ingalls decides to sell the house in the Big Woods of Wisconsin, and move to the Indian Territory near Independence, Kansas, as there were widely circulating stories that the land (technically still under Osage ownership) would be opened to settlement by homesteaders imminently. So Laura, along with Pa and Ma, and Mary and baby Carrie, move to Kansas. Along the way, Pa trades his two horses for two Western mustangs, which Laura and Mary name Pet and Patty. When the family reaches Indian Territory, they meet Mr. Edwards, who is extremely polite to Ma, but tells Laura and Mary that he is "a wildcat from Tennessee." Mr. Edwards is an excellent neighbor, and helps the Ingalls in every way he can, beginning with helping Pa erect their house. Then, Pa builds a roof and a floor for their house, digs a well, and the family is finally settled. During the book, the Ingalls family becomes terribly ill from a disease called at that time "Fever 'n' Ague" (fever with severe chills and shaking) which was later identified to be malaria. Mrs. Scott, another neighbor, takes care of the family while they are sick. Mr. Edwards brings Laura and Mary their Christmas presents from Independence, and in the spring, the Ingalls plant the beginnings of a small farm. At the end of this book, the family is told that the land must be vacated by settlers as it is not legally open to settlement yet, and Pa elects to leave the land and move before the Army forcibly requires him to abandon the land. The next book, On the Banks of Plum Creek, reveals that they have moved to Minnesota.