Reviews for Pioneer girl : the annotated autobiography

Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

Fans know that Little House in the Big Woods was not Wilder's first book; that honor belongs to a handwritten autobiography, completed in 1930. Although Wilder and daughter Rose mined it frequently for their fiction, the memoir is only now being published, and Hill's annotated edition provides readers with much background information and context as well as a sorting out of the facts, fictions, and errors. New details emerge including that real Pa gave away the family dog, Jack! but Hill's most valuable contribution is her careful comparison of this text with the Little House books. She clearly demonstrates how frequently Wilder's ideas and exact phrasing appear in both which should reassure those who fear that collaborator Rose was the true genius behind the series. Lengthy footnotes make the manuscript somewhat tricky to navigate, but Hill's comments are cogent and her arguments strong, and this will be welcomed wherever there are Wilder fans. Illustrated with maps, photos, and artwork, and appended with additional manuscripts and an extensive bibliography.--Weisman, Kay Copyright 2014 Booklist


School Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Gr 10 Up-Hill presents a detailed annotated version of Wilder's autobiography, written between 1929 and 1930, which served as the basis for the ever-popular and successful "Little House" books. A successful columnist and editor, Wilder chronicled 16 years of the Ingalls family's moves through Kansas, Missouri, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and the Dakota Territory in the late 19th century, offering vivid descriptions of the land and people as well as the ups and downs of frontier life. Though daughter Rose Wilder Lane heavily edited the manuscript, it was never accepted for publication. Wilder eventually fictionalized many of the incidents described here for her "Little House" series and strove to portray the spirit of the time and to illustrate the courage and adaptability of the people who settled the frontier. Using census data, newspapers, and other primary documents, this volume is heavily annotated and puts into perspective the original autobiography and how that manuscript evolved into the fictional stories. Though casual readers may find the information overwhelming, "Little House" devotees will appreciate Hill's thorough examination of Wilder's life and times.-Patricia Ann Owens, formerly with Illinois Eastern Community Colls., Mt. Carmel (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.


Choice
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.

This final edited version of Pioneer Girl includes the last editorial changes made to the work during Wilder's lifetime and the lifetime of her daughter, Rose. Hill contends that in her edited version of Wilder's original handwritten Pioneer Girl, "spelling and punctuation errors appear as they occur in the original." (The editor sometimes corrects words in brackets, but she does not use sic; accordingly, readers can assume that all errors were in the original.) In this investigation, Hill proves two things: first, although the Little House books are fictional, they were based on the facts of Wilder's life as found in her autobiographical handwritten manuscript Pioneer Girl; second, Wilder is the true author of most of the original manuscript, the validity of which is born out through the meticulous annotated record. Rose may have lightly edited the story, but Wilder herself was its true and only author. One does not have to be a scholar to enjoy this volume, but there are disconcerting moments, such as the use of racial slurs and ethnic stereotypes and hints of sexual abuse and/or sexual impropriety. These may prove troubling to younger readers. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers. --Patricia D. Hopkins, Christopher Newport University

Back