[CALIBK12] What Laura Ingalls Wilder left out of LITTLE HOUSE

[Debbie Reese]

On my site yesterday, I posted excerpts from an 
article that was a speech given by Laura Ingalls 
Wilder in 1937. In that speech, Wilder talks 
about what she left out of her books, things that 
she did not think were appropriate for children. 
She talks specifically about the Benders, a 
family who ran a tavern. Turns out the Benders 
were killers; their "garden" had a lot of bodies 
in it. Pa and other townsmen went out looking for 
the Benders. Later on, Pa would say they would 
never be found. I've excerpted the relevant portions of the speech on my site:

http://tiny.cc/j5twD

Equally remarkable is that the speech was printed 
in SATURDAY EVENING REVIEW in the 70s, and again 
in the 80s in a biographical volume cited by a 
lot of people who study (and revere) the book. 
Nobody has written anything (as far as I've been 
able to determine) about the Benders or Pa's 
vigilantism. Those of you using LITTLE HOUSE for 
critical literacy purposes may want to include 
this information in your unit. Excellent example 
of choices writer's make, with lot of 
food-for-thought with regard to why they make such choices.

Debbie




Visit my Internet resource:
American Indians in Children's Literature
http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.info

Debbie A. Reese (Nanbé Ówîngeh)
Assistant Professor, American Indian Studies
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Native American House, Room 2005
1204 West Nevada Street, MC-138
Urbana, Illinois 61801

Email: debreese at illinois.edu
TEL 217-265-9885
FAX 217-265-9880






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