[.ca] Laura Ingalls Wilder Country: The People and Places in ... (ISBN 0060973463)

Rather disappointing:
I was disappointed in this book right from the start. To pay \othe money I had to pay\c, I expected to get a hardcover book. Instead, what I found was a flimsy paperback which was as thin as a magazine. Instead of showing scenery from the time Laura lived in places, there were a lot of pictures of plain grasslands of the present time. I turned the page only to find a big picture of a piece of grass! How boring! To my dismay, there were no pictures of Mr. Edwards, Nellie Oleson, Mr. and Mrs. Boast, Mary Power, Reverend Alden, and absolutely no mention of the beloved bulldog, Jack. One advantage in owning this book is that it is much more detailed informative than the "Little House" books. We learn about Laura's younger brother, the fact that the Ingalls once owned a hotel, how Rose Wilder also had a son and died, and shockingly, that Rose obtained a divorce. If you are a hardcore enthusiast for Laura Ingalls Wilder things, then one reason you might want to get this book is because of the pictures from the Ingalls family album. There are lovely pictures of all of Laura's sisters, Ma, Pa, Rose, and Almanzo. The family portrait of the Wilder's is also a plus. Overall, this book was OK. The pictures of Laura and Almanzo's farm, homes, car, horses, and family settings are all good and the information is refreshing. However, the author fails to mention numerous important people in Laura's childhood as well as pictures of them. Instead of putting pictures of friends and family, he puts in way too much scenery from which the pictures were taken in the 1990's, and not from the 1880's.

Beautiful Pictures:
Wonderful glossy full spread pictures of the beautiful grasses and flowers. Makes you want to live on the prairie!! I loved seeing the pictures of Laura and her family. I am sure my sisters are going to love this book too. I also liked the extra tidbits of information. Even has quotes from some unpublished books written by Laura. My review is not the best just wanted to give the book another 5 stars.

A must have book for Laura Ingalls fans.:
I expected a lot from this book, and I got even more than expected. Besides a lot of beautiful color photos, some two pages wide, there is a wealth of family photos. Not only pictures of Laura's immediate family, but the aunts and uncles, and even their Minnesota neighbors, the Nelsons. This book solves the mystery of what the China Shepherdess looks like as well as Laura's China Box. There is even a photo of Dr. Tan's grave. If you can't visit the places in Laura's books, this book will take you there, and also take you where you can no longer go with photos taken by Garth Williams and other photographers of places that no longer exist. There are even photos of paintings done by Harvey Dunn, Grace's husband, based on Laura's family and a painting done by Laura to explain to Grace what a tree looked like. You can see Pa's cottonwoods that survive today as well as the remnants of Almanzo's tree claim. And just as wonderful, the book fills in details not in Laura's books, so you can find out about her baby brother. The only thing lacking is a photo of Nellie Oleson. You won't be disappointed!

A lovely book:
A beautifully photographed book that gives the reader an idea of what the places in Wilder's books really looked like. These sights are what Laura was envisioning when she wrote her childhood memories. My favorite picture is the wedding photo of Caroline and Charles Ingalls. Since they are always seen from Laura's perspective, it's easy to forget that they were once a young couple just starting out on their married life together, with no idea of what the future would bring. It was just a thought that occurred to me when I saw the picture. You just know they never expected that millions of people in the 20th century would fondly know of them as the Ma and Pa Ingalls.