A little house in the big woods

A decrepit hand-painted sign, the paint peeling, marked the turnoff for the birthplace of Laura Ingalls Wilder, the beloved author of the Little House series.

"Laura Ingalls Wilder's birthplace," I excitedly screamed. "Stop, turn around, we need to go!"

"We're going to Laura's born house!" my son chimed in.

The seven-mile winding road from Pepin, Wisc., to Lund passed by big red barns, a one-room schoolhouse, and cows grazing in wide-open pastures. We drove through groves of pines, poplars, and cotton woods, and past corn fields. And then there it was: the gray log cabin.

You might remember how Wilder's first book Little House in the Big Woods begins: "Once upon a time many years ago a little girl lived in the big woods of Wisconsin in a little gray house made of logs." Well, this was that house--at least an authentic re-creation of the original one in the same location where Laura lived with Pa and Ma, her sister Mary, her baby sister Carrie, and their trusty dog, Jack, before moving to Missouri, and then Kansas, back to Wisconsin, on to Minnesota, and then South Dakota.

My daughter and I, our hearts pounding, ran to the front door. There's something so exciting about visiting the birthplace of an author you love. Your connection with the author is deepened. You feel as if you're getting a glimpse into the personal life of the person behind the book.

I recently read Little House in the Big Woods to my daughter and we have listened to the Book on Tape probably three times. The book is based on Wilder's early childhood living on the edge of the Wisconsin woods in the 19th century. In it there are wonderful scenes depicting pioneer life. The family celebrates Christmas with homemade toys, cure bear meat, and visit town for the first time. And every night they are safe and warm in their little house, with the happy sound of Pa's fiddle sending Laura and her sisters off to sleep.

My memories of the books and the TV show are most closely linked to my childhood friend Carol, who was obsessed with Laura Ingalls Wilder. While I never had my own collection of the books at home, my friend Carol did and her sister, Diana, used to read us chapters. We would re-enact scenes, and in our minds her backyard was the wild Midwest where we were pioneers hunting for our own food, churning our own butter, and fending for ourselves.

But that was all pretend. Here I was at the actual place. We walked inside the log cabin. It was as if we were stepping inside one of Wilder's books.

"Mommy it's so small," my daughter said.

The long, cold winter the Wilder family endured in this little log cabin suddenly seemed all the more impressive.

Were you a Little House on the Prairie fan? Please share your childhood memories of the books and TV series.