First sentence: In 1874, two horses slowly pulled a covered wagon across the open prairie. The man with the reins, Charles Ingalls, had twinkly blue eyes and a long curly beard. Inside the wagon were his wife and daughters, plus everything the family owned.
Premise/plot: This early chapter book is a biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder. It is one of many titles in the "Who Was?" series. The biography clarifies for young readers the differences between her real life and the fictional Laura Ingalls that they may have met through either the series of books or the television series.
My thoughts: Would I have read this one as a child? Yes. I'm sure I would have. I was one of those kids who read and reread the Little House series dozens of times. In part because it was one of the series that we owned. We had one bookcase of books. And all of our books were well loved. In part, because I grew up watching the television series. As an adult, I didn't really learn anything new. But is that the standard by which to judge nonfiction written for children? Definitely not. So if you're an adult and have the choice of reading PIONEER GIRL with all its annotations or this children's biography, go with the adult biography. But providing interesting nonfiction books for all readers is important!
© 2017 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
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