Talk:Little House on the Prairie

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This article should not be broken up into seperate articles. Just because it can, doesnt mean it should. There should be seperate sections inside the article. One for the book. For the book series. For the TV series. If the sections get too large then they break off into seperate articles. Stbalbach 18:15, 24 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] Merge

Three articles have been merged into Little House on the Prairie:

The subject matter is too closely related for it to be seperate articles, and is more comprehensible and valuable as a single article. Stbalbach 01:46, 25 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Moved the T.V. Series into it's own article and provided a internal link on the top of the page.Babygator23 00:37, 17 September 2006 (UTC)

Please don't do that. This article was already a fragmented and confusing mess, there is no reason to separate it. There are already 4 little house articles we don't need to make it 5, 6, 7 or 8. A single main article that covers the books, TV, movies, historical sites - all this information is closely related. -- Stbalbach 14:17, 17 September 2006 (UTC)
The television article should have its own page. It is notable in its own right, as a long-running television series which took from the books but also created many of its own storylines. There is no reason that it should remain on this page. Numerous pages have articles on both the book and the film(s) or television series based on it, when both are notable. -Shannernanner 08:19, 18 September 2006 (UTC)
If it was just a book and TV I might agree, but LHOTP has tons of stuff beyond that - we need a central article to tie it all together, it fragments too easily. You could take every section in this article and make it a separate article. None of the sections are so long they need to break off, there is value in keeping it together. -- Stbalbach 14:18, 18 September 2006 (UTC)

Well, looking at what you did, some of the TV versions in one article, and other TV versions are in this article -- which means you need to restore all the T^V categories back to this article. This article is not a book article, it's not that simple black and white "book versus TV", more complex. -- Stbalbach 14:32, 18 September 2006 (UTC)

I moved and edited the article in accordance with Wikipedia guidelines. This article should be the book article, or perhaps ought to be the disambiguation page. The book series is unquestionably notable in its own right. Perhaps then one page could be made jointly for the remaining series and miniseries, if none merit their own pages. -Shannernanner 18:20, 18 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Edit history info

Because of the merge of three other articles into a fourth, the edit historys did not carry over. For previous edit history, please see the above article links. Stbalbach 01:51, 25 Apr 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Plot summary?

Currently, the article talks a great deal about the history and success of the book and the TV/movie adaptations of it, but says very little about the content of the book. A plot summary and perhaps a cast of characters for at least the first book would be very helpful. --LostLeviathan 16:29, 31 May 2005 (UTC)

This article does indeed have little to say on the plot. The synopsi of the TV series pages are very vivid and well-written. There ought to be similarly good writing in this article. Squareenix 03:19, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Publisher

Does anyone know who originally published the Little House on the Prarie books? User:68.115.165.138

[edit] More info

This article is getting better. There is still a lot of missing information as can be seen at this site. Additional books, awards, at least 12 historic sites, etc.. I'll keep it in mind as a project, but someone with more personal interest in the subject may want to expand on the article. Stbalbach 14:41, 3 Jun 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Little House places

I re-edited the list because the link for Cuba, NY, led to a disambiguation page. The edit should also be made anywhere the list was copied. Lawikitejana 03:33, 29 August 2006 (UTC)


Here are some other places connected with the Ingalls and the Wilders, and their relatives :

[edit] Silver Lake

I've been wondering about Laura's Silver Lake. There is no lake of this name near De Smet. I've found two lakes near DeSmet and other nine in the county. Here is the result of my researches : http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=181:2:8806190445556666386::NO::: . Does anybody know about which of them Laura wrote in her books ? (83.20.19.46 12:25, 12 August 2007 (UTC))

  • I've found the answer - it's Lake Thompson.

Originally called Dry Woods Lake by American Indians, the lake was renamed for Jacob Thompson, Secretary of the Interior under President James Buchanan. The lake is mentioned as Twin Lakes in many of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books, including By the Shores of Silver Lake and The Long Winter. In the 1930s, the lake was completely dry and used for pasture. In 1980s, the area was a 9,000-acre marsh. Heavy rains and snowmelt in the mid 80s filled the lake to over 20 feet deep and now covers 18,000 acres in Kingsbury County. The lake is so distinct it was designated as a National Natural Landmark. (Source : http://www.sdgfp.info/parks/regions/glaciallakes/lakethompson.htm) (83.20.38.133 17:01, 13 August 2007 (UTC))

    • Or, acctually no - Silver Lake - Referred to in Laura Ingalls Wilder's book "By the Shores of Silver Lake." Today, the lake is actually a marsh located immediately east of De Smet on the north side of Highway 14. The Ingalls' home (museum) can be visited in De Smet (Source : http://www.fws.gov/madisonwetlands/special_places.htm) (83.20.38.133 17:10, 13 August 2007 (UTC))

[edit] Little House books

I've created the list of Little House books. Please, check it and add what is missing.

[edit] Rose Wilder Lane as ghostwriter

"In recent years, controversy has surrounded the role of Wilder's daughter, author and political theorist Rose Wilder Lane, as either a silent editor or ghostwriter of her mother's books."

I would like to see this statement removed as it is already mentioned earlier in the article about Lane's contributions to the series. Also, while it is clear that Lane did edit "the Little House books", it has been clearly shown in many books and periodicals (i.e. John Miller's excellent biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder)that Lane did not "ghostwrite" the books. enosfam 17 May 2006 UTC

I've taken it out, for the first reason (redundant) rather than the second. To find out about Rose as political theorist, etc., it's easy enough to click on her name in the first sentence. The first mention says, "The depth of her involvement, and the extent of her influence on the theme and content of the books, has been the subject of much debate in recent years." That's perfectly accurate, and informative, and readers can learn about the ghostwriting allegations in the other articles, which mention the recent trend toward agreeing that's overstating the case.Lawikitejana 14:51, 19 August 2006 (UTC)
No problem I didn't realize it was a duplication. -- Stbalbach 16:01, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Criticism of American Indian Portrayals

While their may be criticism of Wilder’s handling of Native Americans, I think her portrayal of the family’s journey to “Indian Territory” is handled in a very evenhanded way. Pa and Laura herself seem intrigued, and Ma and Mary are very fearful. Also, Wilder explicitly writes that the family knew they were taking a gamble into Indian Territory – they were aware the land was quite possibly not open for settlement, but couldn’t know for sure because it took so much time for information to come from Washington. This is supported by the flight of the family from Kansas, believing the lands would not be opened for settlement after all (information which itself turned out to be incorrect).

I added a mention of Dennis McAuliffe's critique, "Little House on the Osage Prairie", with a footnote/link to Oyate's website, which has the essay. McAuliffe discusses historical information relevant to Wilder's handling of her family's journey to Indian Territory, as well as Little House on the Prairie's impact on him as an Osage man. 03:58, 19 February 2008 (UTC)Fransdottir

[edit] Infobox for Little House on the Prairie TV series

Is it okay if I add an infobox for Little House on the Prairie to this article? The TV series ran for 8 or 9 seasons. There is already an infobox for the book in this article. Is there a rule on Wikipedia that 2 infoboxes cannot be on the same article? If there is such a rule, the Little House on the Prairie (TV series) may need its own article and I would be the one to create it. Jim856796 04:52, 9 August 2006 (UTC)


Add away. The Little House on the Prairie already has it's own article It is currently under the television section and is a link. Check that out and add to it.

~Babygator23~ 00:50, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Characters based on real people

I just finished reading Little House on the Praire, and there is no Nellie Oleson in it. I think this is due to the confusion between the book and the TV series, which is really based on On the Banks of Plum Creek.Dlanier

Nellie Oleson does not appear in the series (books) until "By the Banks of Plum Creek", where her father owns the general store.