Little House On The Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Without libraries-and the librarians who guided me from one title to another-I’m not sure I would have become the writer I am today.

But libraries gave me access to as many books as I could devour. I grew up in a household with very few books-other than my dad’s Bibles and concordances (he was a preacher). Over the years, libraries and librarians transformed my life. So I read every book in the series-multiple times. When I realized the Laura Ingalls of the book had grown up to be the Laura Ingalls Wilder who wrote the books, I was inspired. One fateful day, I found one of her books-at the back of the bookmobile in the juvenile section: Little Town on the Prairie. Our new neighbor Opal Scott, who recognized the reader in me, recommended books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. My mother was also a reader, and during the summer, we’d drive from the country to the outskirts of town where the bookmobile parked. I fell under the spell of Maud Hart Lovelace. Anthologies filled with poetry and short stories. The librarian-I never knew her name-recognized a kindred spirit and recommended one book after another. It remained a magical place-a small, rounded room with a high ceiling-up about five or six stairs, tucked behind the school stage. And I could check out three or four at a time! I read them as my classmates finished their assignments.Īfter a few days, I was transferred to a different and more challenging third grade class, but the trips to the school library continued.

I’d never been to a library before, but what a magical place! Book after book after book. During the opening days of class, I quickly worked through my assignments before my classmates had finished, and our teacher sent me to the library to check out books. My parents had moved to the country, and in September, I found myself at a new school.

Little House On The Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder