Little House On The Prairie - A classic book and television series
Little House on the Prairie was written by Laura Ingalls Wilder and was part of a book series that was published in 1935. The books were based on memories of her childhood in the Midwest part of the United States during the 19th century. The books are still in print today and are considered to be classics in children’s literature. Other books in the series were Farmer Boy, On the Banks of Plum Creek, By the Shores of Silver Lake, The Long Winter, These Happy Golden Years and The First Four Years.
Little House on the Prairie aired on NBC from 1974 to 1982. It was a very popular one-hour series. The stars of the series were Michael Landon who played Charles Ingalls, Karen Grassle who was Caroline Ingalls, Melissa Gilbert as Laura Ingalls, Melissa Sue Anderson as Mary Ingalls and twins Sidney and Lindsay Greenbush played Carrie. Little House on the Prairie was set in Walnut Grove, Minnesota. In 1979, a new cast member joined Little House on the Prairie. Dean Butler, who played Almanzo Wilder was the man that Laura Ingalls met and would eventually marry in the 1980-1981 season. Michael Landon was the primary director of the episodes and directed a large majority of them.
A mini-series of Little House on the Prairie was made in 2004 and aired on the ABC network in 2005. It was a five episode series called “Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie” and was part of The Wonderful World of Disney series.
The state of Kansas has chosen the childhood home of the Ingalls as a historical site which they have open to visitors throughout the year. Parts of this historical site include a cabin which is modeled after the original cabin and the original post office. A vast majority of the countryside which surrounds it remains open and has undeveloped nature. De Smet, South Dakota also attracts many visitors because it has historic sites from the books By the Shores of Silver Lake, These Happy Golden Years and The Long Winter. Other historical sites because of Little House on the Prairie in the U.S. are Mansfield Missouri and of course, Walnut Grove, Minnesota.
If you were a big fan of the original Little House on the Prairie series, you can relive it all over again by picking up the series on DVD at your favorite store or by doing a search on the web for it.