I am a huge fan of Laura Ingalls Wilder and her Little House books. Pamela Smith Hill has published another great book about this wonderful author. Her books are carefully researched. Smith examines Wilder’s original Pioneer Girl manuscript that was meant to be a non-fiction story about her childhood and compares it to what was eventually published as the nine novels in the Little House series.

This is a must read if you are a Laura Ingalls Wilder fan.

Thank you NetGalley and University of Nebraska Press for a chance to review this book.

Fans of Laura Ingalls and the Little House series will enjoy TOO GOOD TO BE ALTOGETHER LOST. The Little House series were my favorite books when I was a kid, and I read them more times than I can count. As an adult, I am still fascinated by Wilder and read just about every book that’s published about her. In recent years, Wilder has been vilified for including scenes in her novel that, judged by today’s standards, are considered racist. Because of this, some of her novels have been banned. Her contributions to children’s and young adult literature have been discredited and ignored. Pamela Hill Smith does not shy away from those disputed situations. Instead of maligning Wilder or twisting the facts, Smith puts those scenes into the historical context of the time period during which the novels are set. It was so nice to read a scholarly work about Wilder that is once again in support of the woman and her works.

Throughout TOO GOOD TO BE ALTOGETHER LOST, Smith examines Wilder’s original Pioneer Girl manuscript that was meant to be a non-fiction story about her childhood and compares it to what was eventually published as the nine novels in the Little House series. She also breaks down each novel with detailed explanations of what is so unique and revolutionary about these novels. Reading the Little House series today, we might not see them as breakthrough novels in children’s or young adult literature. But, when the books were published back in the 1930s and 1940s, Wilder was redefining children’s and young adult literature. Despite objections from her daughter and publisher, Wilder stayed true to her vision and included stories/situations that were not typically included in children’s stories. Relying on her personal experiences, Wilder created the fictional Laura Ingalls as a character that her readers could grow and mature alongside as they read the series. I know that I did. The Little House series was a big part of my childhood, and it was heartwarming to read Hill’s arguments on why these novels continue to be relevant for today’s young readers. As the title suggests, Wilder’s stories are TOO GOOD TO BE ALTOGETHER LOST.

I approached this book with some trepidation. I am a big fan of the Little House books and have been distressed by the presentism that has threatened Wilder’s legacy in recent decades. Hill manages to avoid that trap in this excellent book. She doesn’t ignore or downplay the racist episodes in the books, but places them into the appropriate historical context.
This a scholarly book, but quite accessible to non-scholars - well-cited, respectful and affectionate without being in any way fawning or fan girlish. I should confess that at least part of my delight with the book had to do with the fact that, in every usual area of dispute about Wilder’s work, Hill came down on my side. This meant I could enjoy the deep dive into one of my favorite literary subjects without feeling I had to mentally fight with the author over whether or not Rose really wrote the Little House books, or whether Pa was a hero or a heel.
I just loved this book.

5 stars

A revisitation of the Little House series which, I guess, have fallen out of favor since she’s now been labeled as racist (this is crazy to me. How was a woman writing in the 1930s to write about the attitudes of the 1870s? I read these books as a young child and I remember reading a secondary character (not Ma) saying, “The only good Indian is a dead Indian,” and totally being able to understand that while that may have been an attitude of yesteryear, and likely misguided then, because we stole their land, that it certainly didn’t apply today AND I WAS ABOUT NINE WHEN I UNDERSTOOD THESE THINGS.)

Anyway, hence the title, the point being that these books have so much to offer that it is counterproductive to toss them aside because of a minstrel show and a few other, definitely outdated, but historically accurate scenes. Each book is examined individually and I loved having the chance to revisit each…I probably read each one ten times.

So, fans will love this, and for those who aren’t sure about LIW’s place in today’s world of children’s literature, this is worth a look. I loved this, both for the stories and the premise.