Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography contains over one hundred images, eight maps, and hundreds of annotations that use primary source documents to enhance Wilder’s words. Earlier this year we announced that Pioneer Girl was in design, and we now have page proofs of the book—one step closer to publication!
Page proofs, or first pages, are the pages of the book laid out by a professional typesetter. For me, they mark a visible change from manuscript to book. The pages I am sharing with you will give you a good idea of what the final book will look like. However, they are from an uncorrected proof and the text and final layout may be different.
At the beginning of the project, we decided to stay true to Wilder’s document, so you 
may notice misspelled words or incorrect grammar in Pioneer Girl. Don’t be too hard on Wilder—this was her rough draft. Anything in brackets, i.e. [ear hurt], is an addition made by the editors of the Pioneer Girl Project to maintain the readability and flow of the document.
Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography shares the Ingallses’ world and Wilder’s writing with a modern audience. From beginning to end, it is non-fiction, a historical recounting of the pioneer era and the Ingalls family’s journey through it.
Jennifer McIntyre
Wow! I can’t wait to read this. Will be neat to see the pictures and maps and all! You all have worked so hard on it. Thanks!
This is a very neat reveal! Thank you for sharing! There are many, I’m sure, who are excited for the release of the book! I know that I am. 😀
Reblogged this on Missy's Crafty Mess and commented:
I can not wait for this book to come out!!!
Can’t wait for this book. Thanks for the teasers! It looks so interesting. I’ve been to several of the Laura sites so I know a bit of the rest of the story, but this book will be so much more. Thank you for all your hard work.
I’ve been so excited for this to come out but now I have a question. I read these books over and over, more than any adult should admit to (to be fair I have bipolar disorder and they are my calming thing). If I tried I could probably recite the last 3 books. I keep wondering though, will reading the Pioneer Girl text ruin the magic? I know that it is a lot more realistic than the children’s books and I keep thinking that I don’t want to risk changing the stories forever. I also find that it is hard to think that I’ll be reading the last possible Laura version of these stories. I am still very excited about the new book but also a little sad, like something is coming to an end. Is this book an end or just a new view and the stories will live happily on?
I am SO. EXCITED. about this. I grew up loving her books, and have a set carefully stored to read to my children once they’re old enough to appreciate. I remember learning that her original manuscript had been rejected, and wanting so bad to read it. I had actually done some research recently, and learned that I could contact the Laura Ingalls Museum and pay for a photocopy of the Pioneer Girl manuscript, which I was planning on doing… this is SO MUCH BETTER. Impatiently counting down the days ’till November!
Am planning on pre-ordering the book in the near future.
I am also eager to read this. Laura is my first cousin three times removed, or three generations down (my mother was an Ingalls) and I put together an album for my children from documents, land deeds, family trees, letters, and pictures that my mother had. I also have a family tree showing our relationship to Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Ulysses S. Grant. I also have a gingerbread recipe from Laura. Mother had also written to Michael Landon when he did the ‘Little House on the Prairie” series and he wrote back to her and included an autographed picture of the cast. My daughters loved the books and will be eager to read this latest publication!
When? When?..I can’t take it anymore.any word on a publication date?
Thank you for your interest, Connie. Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography will be available at the end of November. We are now taking payment for pre-orders.