The World of Laura Ingalls Wilder

“This well-researched, sweeping book details the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder and those who came before her. It is clear that the different landscapes—Wisconsin, Kansas, the Ozarks—shaped them, particularly Laura and ‘Pa.’ The original art of Garth Williams and Helen Sewell deepens the poignancy and power of Laura’s prairie, since today only one percent of it survives. Laura’s work has preserved it for us. This book preserves it for us.” —Patricia MacLachlan, author of Sarah, Plain and Tall, winner of the Newbery Medal
“One morning the whole world was delicately silvered. Every blade of grass was silvery and the path had a thin sheen. . . . When the sun came up, the whole prairie sparkled. Millions of tiny, tiny sparks of color blazed on the grasses.” —from On The Banks of Plum Creek, by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Marta McDowell’s writing has appeared in The New York Times, Woman’s Day, Country Gardening, and elsewhere. Her previous books include Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life, All the Presidents’ Gardens, The World of Laura Ingalls Wilder, Emily Dickinson’s Gardening Life, Unearthing The Secret Garden, and Gardening Can Be Murder. She consults for public gardens and private clients, writes and lectures on gardening topics, and teaches landscape history and horticulture at the New York Botanical Garden, where she studied landscape design. She lives, writes, and gardens in Chatham, New Jersey.