Being a Pioneer in Wisconsin

We're moving into the time in Wisconsin where there is much more to read. We've crossed the 1800 threshold and we're reading about pioneer families. There are so many wonderful stories that take place in Wisconsin.



Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder Everyone knows Laura, right? Well, she lived in the town of Pepin, WI around 1875.



First Farm in the Valley (and sequels) by Anne Pellowski This is a WONDERFUL series, based on the author's own family who were of Polish descent and lived near Dodge, WI (Winona, MN was the nearest large town) beginnning in the 1870's. Each book in the series is about a different little girl in a succeeding generation of the same family. They are wonderfully descriptive and charming, much like the Little House series. Here is a link to a better review than I can write.

Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brinks Everyone knows Caddie, too, right? Caddie was also a real person and the stories handed down in her family about her adventures are retold in this book by her granddaughter. Caddie lived in Dunn County, WI in 1864.

On the other side of the state, Laura's Ma, Caroline lived in Brookfield, WI, near Milwaukee. Her adventures are told in the Caroline Series of books by Celia Wilkins.

The Journey of Emilie tells the story of the hard life of a girl who emigrated to Sheboygan, WI from Germany in 1855. It's not a terribly well-written story, it's part of a series called The Immigrants' Chronicles, a fairly page-mill series, but it shows the hardships of immigrant life.

We also found Pioneer Girl: The Early Life of Frances Willard by Clara Ingram Judson is a story written in 1935 about a family who moves from Ohio west to Janesville, WI. It is a charming little story with wonderful old-fashioned illustrations by Genevieve Foster