Includes bibliographical references (pages 249-258) and index.
Contents:
Beginning the journey -- Rereading childhood -- Pepin, Wisconsin: Little house in the big woods -- Journeys into female imagination -- Independence, Kansas: Little house on the prairie -- Mankato, Minnesota, and Maud Hart Lovelace's Betsy books -- Walnut Grove, Minnesota, and Burr Oak, Iowa: On the banks of Plum Creek and the lost years -- Coming of age with literature -- De Smet, South Dakota, and Mansfield, Missouri: By the shores of Silver Lake, The long winter, Little town on the prairie, These happy golden years, The first four years, and where the books were written -- Prince Edward Island: Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne books -- Concord, Massachusetts: Louisa May Alcott's Little women -- Amherst, Massachusetts, and Emily Dickinson.
Summary:
A typical travel book takes readers along on a trip with the author, but a great travel book does much more than that, inviting readers along on a mental and spiritual journey as well. This distinction is what separates Nancy McCabe's From Little Houses to Little Women from the typical and allows it to take its place not only as a great travel book but also as a memoir about the children's books that have shaped all of our imaginations. McCabe, who grew up in Kansas just a few hours from the Ingalls family's home in Little House on the Prairie, always felt a deep connection with Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the Little House series. McCabe read Little House on the Prairie during her childhood and visited Wilder sites around the Midwest with her aunt when she was thirteen. But then she didn't read the series again until she decided to revisit in adulthood the books that had so influenced her childhood. It was this decision that ultimately sparked her desire to visit the places that inspired many of her childhood favorites, taking her on a journey that included stops in the Missouri of Laura Ingalls Wilder, the Minnesota of Maud Hart Lovelace, the Massachusetts of Louisa May Alcott, and even the Canada of Lucy Maud Montgomery. From Little Houses to Little Women reveals McCabe's powerful connection to the characters and authors who inspired many generations of readers. Traveling with McCabe as she rediscovers the books that shaped her and ultimately helped her to forge her own path, readers will enjoy revisiting their own childhood favorites as well.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.