Laura Ingalls Wilder's fans know her best as "half-pint," America's spirited pioneer girl who wrote about her childhood growing up on the prairie in the late 1800s.

Now noted Wilder historian William Anderson takes us beyond the Little House books and tells us about the real events that inspired Laura's stories, like the time that thousands of grasshoppers ate the Ingallses' crops. He also includes the experiences that Laura did not write about, such as the two years the family spent in Burr Oak, Iowa, running a hotel. Readers will also learn about the life Laura led with her husband, Almanzo, and their daughter, Rose, after the Little House books end.

Renée Graef's detailed artwork beautifully illustrates this engaging, accessible biography of one of America's favorite authors.