The Days of Laura Ingalls Wilder is a series of books written by Thomas L. Tedrow

Thomas L. Tedrow

Thomas L. Tedrow is an author, screenwriter, film producer, and venture capitalist. He wrote the Little House on the Prairie spin off series The Days of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Another series he has written was The Younguns. He also wrote an accurate eye-opening book on Senator Ted Kennedy's scandal...

. They are fictional books about Laura's adulthood in Missouri

Missouri

Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

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Books

1. Missouri Homestead (1992)
2. Children of Promise (1992)
3. Good Neighbors (1992)
4. Home to the Prairie (1992)
5. The World's Fair (1992)
6. Mountain Miracle (1992)
7. The Great Debate (1992)
8. Land of Promise (1992)

Main characters

• Laura Ingalls Wilder – Portrayed as a fiery, opinionated woman who writes articles for The Mansfield Monitor
• Manly Wilder – Laura’s husband who walks with a permanent limp
• Rose Wilder – Laura and Manly’s daughter who has been sent off to boarding school in New Orleans
• Rev. Youngun – The Methodist minister who is a widower with three children
• Larry Youngun – Oldest son of Rev. Youngun,
• Terry Youngun – Middle child of Rev. Youngun, has red hair and a knack for getting into trouble
• Sherry Youngun – Youngest child of Rev. Youngun
• Maurice Springer – African American neighbor of the Younguns who has befriended the Youngun children.
• Eula Mae Springer - Maurice's wife

Missouri Homestead

Laura, Manly and Rose arrive in Mansfield, MO in 1894 after suffering terrible losses in the Dakotas with only $100 to their name. They use this money as a down payment to buy the land that will become Apple Hill Farm. The story jumps to 1904, where Apple Hill Farm is thriving. Laura speaks out against the clear cutting of trees by William Bentley, a rich logger and starts writing newspaper articles against Bentley. What Bentley doesn’t know is that two of his workers, Carver and Flannigan, have been drilling holes in the trees to make them appear to have been fit by “fungus” so they can chop down perfectly healthy trees.

Children of Promise

An Irish Catholic schoolteacher has come to teach elementary school in Mansfield. The town is in an uproar because of the Catholic teacher and many parents keep their children home from school. The Klan wants the teacher to leave and threatens Mr. Summers, the newspaper editor. Laura writes articles in favor of the new teacher and finds herself an enemy of the Klan as well.

Good Neighbors

Dr. George's life changes when his nephew Cubby Elliott arrives on the train to stay with him. He has been looking after Martha Helling who is 40 and having a baby but her husband Jacob doesn't want Dr. George to touch her because he's black. Rose is trying to get home for the holidays but is delayed by mechanical breakdowns and poor weather. She and Lemuel Springer hitch a ride with a mailman named Kris Kringle on a sled who will take them to Mansfield. The weather is getting worse and many of the townspeople are freezing to death.

Home to the Prairie

Pa Ingalls comes to visit Laura in Mansfield. Pa wants to go back to see the log house in Kansas and Laura agrees to drive him there in her car

The World's Fair

Mr. Summers, the newspaper editor, decides to send Laura to St. Louis to cover the World's Fair and the Olympics. Manly decides to pay his own way so he can surprise Laura and give her the honeymoon they never had. The Younguns also end up in St. Louis, entering their dog Dangit into the dog show.

Mountain Miracle

Laura befriends a mountain woman named Josie who lives alone and makes concoctions out of herbs. Everyone in town thinks that Josie is a witch. Josie is at odds with the Flock, a religious group led by a man named Rutherford who also live in the mountains. Rutherford keeps his people isolated from the outside world and wants more land for himself, eying Josie's land and Apple Hill Farm. One of the Flock turns up dead and Sheriff Peterson investigates the suspicious death. A new rabbi, Rabbi Stern, also comes to town with his sickly son Abe.

The Great Debate

Laura travels to St. Louis to give a speech with Ellen Boyle and Susan B. Anthony. She is trying to raise funds to put a statue of Sacajawea in Mansfield. There is a riot and Laura is thrown in jail with many other women. Many of the men in Mansfield are outraged by her behavior and don't want the statue.

Land of Promise

Rev. Youngun has been courting a widow named Carla Pobst and has decided to marry her. Mr. Chan's relatives come to Mansfield from San Francisco after the earthquake there levels Chinatown. Some of the townspeople are outraged by the influx of Chinese immigrants. Laura finds out that she is pregnant.

Controversy

The series has gotten some flak for using Laura Ingalls Wilder

Laura Ingalls Wilder

Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder was an American author who wrote the Little House series of books based on her childhood in a pioneer family...

as a character. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,311814,00.html

In this book series, the Wilder's farm is called "Apple Hill Farm" instead of "Rocky Ridge Farm" which is what is in historical accounts. Pa Ingalls visits Laura in book 4 but he had died historically several years earlier. Laura also gives birth to a daughter at the end of book 8 when, historically, she did not have any more children.