Little Author in the Big Woods Read online

  It is not the things you have that make you happy. It is love and kindness and helping each other and just plain being good.

  There’s no great loss without some small gain.

  The only stupid thing about words is the spelling of them.

  It is a good idea sometimes to think of the importance and dignity of our every-day duties. It keeps them from being so tiresome.

  Remember well, and bear in mind, a constant friend is hard to find.

  Games Laura Played

  Laura, her sisters, and her friends played all sorts of games outside. Some of them, like softball and tag, will be familiar to you. Others will not. Here are the rules for some of their favorite games; try them yourself!

  Ante I Over

  To play this game, you’ll need a ball that has enough weight to be thrown far but is not heavy enough to break a window. Divide the players into two teams. The teams take their places on either side of a small building with a two-sided slanted roof. One team throws the ball over the roof and calls out, “Ante I over.” When the ball comes across the roof, the other team tries to catch it. If the ball is caught, the team has to run around to the other side of the building and throw the ball at a player to claim him or her as their own player. If the team does not catch the ball, a player throws the ball back over the roof while calling out, “Ante I over.” The goal of the game is to capture all the players from the opposing team.

  Pull Away

  Imagine two 20-foot-long lines that are about 50 feet apart from each other. All the players line up on one line or the other. One person is “It.” That person stands between the two lines and calls out to both sides, “Pump, pump, pull away, come out or I’ll pull you out.” Players from both sides try to race to the other side without getting caught by “It.”

  While the players are racing to the opposite side, “It” tries to catch one of the players by tapping her lightly three times on the back. If this player cannot get away before “It” has finished tapping, this person also becomes “It.” Now when the lead “It” calls out the same phrase, the players again try to get safely to the other imaginary line. Both “It” people can catch these players and tap them three times gently on the back. Anyone caught becomes “It.” Sometimes a number of “It” people will gang up on a person to catch her.

  The goal of the game is to be the last person caught. The last person caught becomes “It” for the next round of the game.

  Prisoners’ Base

  Imagine two 20-foot-long lines that are about 50 feet apart. These lines are considered “home.” About a yard’s distance in front of each of these lines is another imaginary line about one yard long. This is the prisoners’ base.

  The players are divided into two teams. They line up on these imaginary home lines facing each other. The game starts by players leaving their home lines and going out between the two home lines, taunting each other to be tagged. The last person out from the home line is the “freshest” player, so he or she is able to tag a “less fresh” player from the other team.

  Team players will try to cover each other by “freshening” themselves before going after an opponent player. When a player is tagged, he becomes a prisoner on the other team’s prisoner base. The prisoner needs to stand on the prisoner base but may stretch out from it as far as she can in order to touch a rescuer.

  Now her team will try to rescue her before her team player is tagged by an opposing team player. If a rescue player manages to touch the prisoner before the rescuer is tagged, the prisoner and the rescuer are free to go home without any interference. The goal of the game is to make all the players of the opposing team prisoners of your own team.

  A Prairie Craft: Corn-Husk Doll

  Wherever corn was grown as a crop, children in both pioneer and Native-American families used the husks to make dolls. Since Laura’s family often grew corn, it’s quite possible that she and her sisters made and played with dolls like these. Follow the simple instructions below to make a corn-husk doll of your very own.

  YOU WILL NEED:

  • string

  • scissors

  • a bucket of water

  • bags of corn husks (these can be purchased already cleaned, dried, and in uniform sizes at a craft store)

  1. Soak corn husks in a bucket of water until they are soft and easy to work with.

  2. Arrange four corn husks as they appear in this drawing.

  3. Tie the tops together with a short piece of string.

  4. Cut the ends so that they are rounded.

  5. Flip over and pull the husks down over the cut ends.

  6. Use string to form the doll’s head

  7. Flatten another husk and roll it tightly.

  8. Secure each end with string to form arms for the doll.

  9. Slide the arms inside the husk as shown.

  10. Form a waist by cinching the middle with string.

  11. To make shoulders, fold a husk over the arms and torso in an X shape.

  12. Arrange four or five husks around the waist, with the straight ends on top, to create a skirt.

  13. Secure the skirt with string.

  14. If you would like to make legs, use small strips of husk as shown in the illustration. Tie small strips of husk around any exposed string (neck, waist). Use fabric scraps to make clothing, and yarn for hair.

  What Laura Ate

  People back in Laura’s time ate some dishes that would be familiar to us and some that would not. Here are a few recipes for foods Laura mentions in her writings that she and her family might have eaten.

  Gingerbread

  Laura and her family loved gingerbread. Gingerbread was their celebration cake, made for birthdays and holidays. Gingerbread is moist, spicy, and delicious.

  YOU WILL NEED:

  2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted before measuring

  1/3 cup sugar

  1 teaspoon salt

  ½ teaspoon baking powder

  1 teaspoon baking soda

  1 teaspoon cinnamon

  1½ teaspoons ground ginger

  ½ teaspoon ground cloves

  ½ cup melted butter

  1 cup molasses

  1 egg

  ½ cup buttermilk or sour milk (To make sour milk, combine ½ teaspoon vinegar and ½ cup milk, and let mixture stand for 5 minutes)

  ¼ cup hot water

  1. Preheat oven to 350°.

  2. Sift together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and spices.

  3. Stir in the melted butter, molasses, egg, and buttermilk or sour milk.

  4. Beat in hot water.

  5. Pour batter into a generously greased and floured 8-inch square pan.

  6. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until cake springs back when lightly touched.

  7. Serve warm with whipped cream.

  Johnnycakes

  There are many references to johnnycakes in Laura’s books; they were a staple of the family’s diet. A johnnycake is a type of cornbread that can fit easily into a saddlebag without crumbling or getting crushed, so it was ideal to take along on the many journeys across the plains.

  The original recipe probably came from the Native Americans, who often shared their food with the settlers. They may have originally been called journey cakes, a name that would easily have been corrupted into johnnycakes. Or the name may be a corruption of Shawnee cakes, named for the Shawnee tribe of the South and Midwest. Still others say it is a corruption of an ancient Indian word, jonikin, and that it came to us by way of the Narragansett tribe of Rhode Island. But whatever the origin of their name, johnnycakes are delicious and easy to make. Below is an old-fashioned recipe like the one that Laura and her family might have used.

  YOU WILL NEED:

  1 cup stone-ground cornmeal (white or yellow)

  1 teaspoon salt

  ½ teaspoon sugar (optional)

  1 cup boiling water

  Butter (or bacon drippings, oil, or other fat)

  ½–1 cup mi
lk

  1. Whisk together cornmeal, salt, and sugar (if used).

  2. Bring water to a boil and pour over the meal mixture, whisking to prevent lumps. Let batter rest for 10 minutes.

  3. Butter a large skillet or griddle and bring it to a sizzle, taking care not to let the butter burn.

  4. Add enough milk (½ cup to 1 cup) to the batter to make it the consistency of mashed potatoes, and drop by spoonfuls several inches apart (they will spread) to make cakes about 2 or 3 inches wide.

  5. Let the cakes gently sizzle on the skillet for 6 to 11 minutes, until they are a deep golden brown on the bottom and slightly firm on the top.

  6. Add more butter to the skillet, and/or place a thin pat of butter on each cake, before turning them over and cooking for another 6 minutes (or longer if necessary), until they are a deep golden brown color. Serve with butter and maple syrup.

  Makes about 8 cakes.

  Homemade Butter

  Back when Laura was a girl, butter was made in a round wooden churn with a long pole to work the cream. Today, it would be hard to find an old-style butter churn. But you can still make delicious butter by following the directions below. Use it on your johnnycakes.

  YOU WILL NEED:

  1 pint heavy whipping cream

  1 clean glass Mason jar with lid

  2 medium-size bowls

  1 spatula

  1. Leave the cream out on the counter for 20 to 30 minutes, then pour it into the Mason jar.

  2. Put the lid on the jar and start shaking it. After about 2 minutes, you’ll see a nice, lightly whipped cream.

  3. After about 4 minutes, the contents of the jar will look like thick whipped cream.

  4. After about 9 minutes of shaking, the cream will start to separate from the sides of the glass. You might want to take a short break.

  5. After about 14 minutes, the whey will have begun separating from the butter.

  6. After about 16 minutes, the curd will be more noticeable, and there will be much more whey.

  7. Start pouring off the buttermilk into one of the bowls. You can drink it or use it in another recipe. Continue shaking the butter for a few minutes, until your butter has solidified a bit more and until you aren’t getting any more buttermilk.

  8. Pour out the butter into a bowl. It will look like a scoop of ice cream.

  9. Pour cold water over the butter and start “massaging” it with a spatula to rinse the rest of the buttermilk out. Continue replacing the water until the water stays clear. Drain.

  10. Spread your fresh butter on crackers, bread, or johnnycakes!

  Little House Books by Laura Ingalls Wilder

  Little House in the Big Woods (1932)

  Farmer Boy (1933)

  Little House on the Prairie (1935)

  On the Banks of Plum Creek (1937)

  By the Shores of Silver Lake (1939)

  The Long Winter (1940)

  Little Town on the Prairie (1941)

  These Happy Golden Years (1943)

  The First Four Years (written around 1940, but published in 1971)

  Other Writings by Laura Ingalls Wilder

  On the Way Home (1962) This is a diary of a trip to Missouri Laura and her family made in 1894. It was published after her death.

  West from Home (1974) This is a collection of letters from Laura to her husband, Manly, written in 1915 and published after Laura’s death.

  A Little House Traveler (2006) This consists of three parts: On the Way Home and West from Home, as mentioned above, and The Road Back, a previously unpublished diary.

  Glossary

  Calico—A brightly printed cotton cloth imported from India.

  Diphtheria—A highly contagious and potentially fatal disease caused by bacteria. Symptoms are a sore throat and fever.

  Homestead—A farmhouse with nearby buildings and land.

  Husk—The outer shell or covering of some fruits or seeds, like walnuts or corn.

  Kerosene—A thin oil made from petroleum, used for heating and cooking and in lamps.

  Mortgage—The deed that spells out the financial agreement between the bank and the owner of a house or building.

  Prairie—A large area of flat or rolling, treeless grassland.

  Shanty—A roughly built wooden cabin or shack.

  Sod—A section of grass-covered soil held together by matted roots.

  Surveyor—A person whose job it is to carefully look over, or survey, land.

  Whey—The thin, milky liquid that is left after cheese or butter has been made.

  Sources

  The author used the books below in her research; look for them in your library if you would enjoy reading more about Laura Ingalls Wilder.

  Anderson, William. Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Biography. New York: HarperCollins, 1992.

  Collins, Carolyn Strom, and Christina Wyss Eriksson. The World of Little House. New York: HarperCollins, 1996.

  Wadsworth, Ginger. Laura Ingalls Wilder: Storyteller of the Prairie. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications Company, 1997.

  Wilder, Laura Ingalls. West from Home: Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder to Almanzo Wilder, San Francisco, 1915. Edited by Roger Lea MacBride. New York: Harper & Row, 1974.

  Zochert, Donald. Laura: The Life of Laura Ingalls Wilder. New York: Avon, 1976.

  About the Author and Illustrator

  Yona Zeldis McDonough is the author of many books for children about strong women, including Sisters in Strength; Anne Frank; and Louisa: The Life of Louisa May Alcott; as well as The Doll with the Yellow Star. Ms. McDonough lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her family. yonazeldismcdonough.com

  Jennifer Thermes is the author and illustrator of When I Was Built and Sam Bennett’s New Shoes, which was a Bank Street College Best Children’s Book. She is also the illustrator of The Iciest, Diciest, Scariest Sled Ride Ever! She lives in Newton, Connecticut. jenniferthermes.com

  Text copyright © 2014 by Yona Zeldis McDonough

  Illustrations copyright © 2014 by Jennifer Thermes

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  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  McDonough, Yona Zeldis.

  Little author in the big woods: a biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder / Yona Zeldis McDonough; illustrated by Jennifer Thermes. — First edition.

  pages cm

  Summary: “Many girls in elementary and middle school fall in love with the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. What they don’t always realize is that Wilder’s books are autobiographical. This narrative biography describes more of the details of the young Laura’s real life as a young pioneer homesteading with her family on many adventurous journeys. This biography, complete with charming illustrations, points out the differences between the fictional series as well as the many similarities. It’s a fascinating story of a much-celebrated writer”—Provided by publisher.

  Includes bibliographical references.

  ISBN 978-0-8050-9542-5 (hardback) — ISBN 978-1-62779-279-0 (e-book)

  1. Wilder, Laura Ingalls, 1867–1957—Juvenile literature. 2. Women authors, American—20th century—Juvenile literature. 3. Women pioneers—United States—Biography—Juvenile literature. 4. Wilder, Laura Ingalls, 1867–1957. Little house books—Juvenile literature. 5. Autobiographical fiction, American—History and criticism—Juvenile literature. I. Thermes, Jennifer, illustrator. II. Title. III. Title: Biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder.

  PS3545.I342Z7684 2014 813'.52—dc23 [B] 2014014946

  eISBN 9781627792790

  First hardcover edition 2014
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  eBook edition September 2014