1. Little House Gretchen’s Literacy Life Portrait A PICTURE BOOK

2. I’m Gretchen. I was born in 1972. It’s hard to make a reading timeline, because all my memories are about one set of stories.

3. My mom would read them to me at bedtime. Her voice was warm and clear and precise.

4. I think my mom really liked how disciplined everyone was.

5. I imagined myself very properly behaved in the tidy one-room schoolhouse.

6. But really, I wanted to be Laura, bonnet off, bare feet, brown braids flying.

7. I didn’t have long hair. But I had my ways.

8. Photos of Laura’s family looked like Lizzie Borden. Carrie IngallsLizzie Borden Yikes!

9. Boys? Weird!

10. He actually followed them, hiding behind bushes as they went about their chores and play. Lucky Garth Williams!

11. As a child, The Long Winter sounded wonderful. You get to stay home from school and play in your cozy home! Now I know they almost died.

12. I know the sensations of the books like the back of my hand. The soft butter yellow of the cover. The newspapery pages. The font. The charcoal drawings.

13. The books became part of who I am

14. Thank you, Laura Ingalls Wilder!