I'm often asked about the inspiration behind my first book idea, The Laura Ingalls Wilder Companion: A Chapter-by-Chapter Guide. It's time to share the story here.

In 2014, I was reading C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia with my own young children. We also had a fabulous guide to Narnia called Roar, by Heather and David Kopp. My children and I loved revisiting Narnia every time we completed a chapter and learning more about the fantasy land and the memorable characters through Roar. We even used the recipe included to make Turkish Delight! Soon I realized I wanted to write a book like that: A book about a book. (I had already taken some writing courses at this point and had a few magazine articles published.)

It didn’t take me long to know I wanted to write about Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books which are rich in history. 

Her books are incredibly important because they portray a real pioneer family’s personal experience. (I also acknowledge they only tell one perspective of American history.) From my time as a classroom teacher and as a mom, I understood Little House on the Prairie and the other Little House books need to be discussed. Children have many questions about the books.

I wrote The Laura Ingalls Wilder Companion as a guide to history, activities, and discussion about the books to help children understand the stories, context, and complicated history in the Little House books. Though written for children, adult fans of the Little House books also appreciate my book. (Take a peek at reviews on Amazon to see what adults say.)

As a child reader, I thought Laura Ingalls Wilder exaggerated the weather in The Long Winter and the grasshoppers in On the Banks of Plum Creek. (Spoiler alert: Wilder was actually quite accurate despite the years that passed.) 

As I wrote The Laura Ingalls Wilder Companion, I wondered what else readers might suspect was fictionalized. That led me to create lots of sidebars called "Fact or Fiction?" 

I also wanted readers to be able to explore the pioneer world of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books through activities, crafts, and recipes. So, I included 75 of them. (Some are available as a free resource on this website.)

The research was especially interesting because I was studying the life of the Ingalls and Wilder families and hundreds of other items in each of the Little House books. Read the story of how this became a book (and why it took so long to get published). 

Author Annette Whipple at the Almanzo Wilder Homestead in Malone, NY

The Laura Ingalls Wilder Companion: A Chapter-by-Chapter Guide was my first book idea. It was my seventh book published in 2020 by Chicago Review Press. It’s available wherever books are sold. Ask for it at your local bookstore. I am now the author of forty books for children with nine different publishers. I want kids to celebrate curiosity, so I write nonfiction for children.

Did you notice the year of inspiration, 2014? It was the same year I began this blog! Be sure to explore the different articles.