Don't Trade the Baby for a Horse: And Other Ways to Make Your Life a Little More Laura Ingalls Wilder

By Wendy McClure

A compendium of ways to capture the pioneer spirit of the classic American author from a Little House on the Prairie expert.

In her spirited memoir The Wilder Life, Wendy McClure strapped on her sunbonnet and journeyed into the world of beloved Little House on the Prairie author Laura Ingalls Wilder. In Don’t Trade the Baby for a Horse, she shares what she learned from her crash course in “Lauraology,” along with her fiercely rekindled—even deepened—love for the series. McClure found that her encounters with the world of Little House proved instructive; after all, Laura’s world wasn’t all horehound candy and pig-bladder balloons. Somewhere between wandering in the Big Woods and wading through Plum Creek, McClure absorbed many notable lessons in “the Laura experience.” In Don’t Trade the Baby for a Horse, she recommends scores of tips, tricks, and observations gleaned in her pioneer pilgrimage, from the surprising intelligence of muskrats to the wonders of home-churned butter and the fierceness of bustles. Clever, warm and hilarious, Don’t Trade the Baby for a Horse is the definitive guide to living your life on the Wilder side—and essential reading for any fan of the Little House books.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
• Release date: Apr 3, 2012
• ISBN: 9781101579732

Wendy McClure

Wendy McClure is an author and a children's book editor. Her work includes the picture book It's a Pumpkin! and the Wanderville middle grade series. She was born in Oak Park, Illinois, and now lives in Chicago with her husband, Chris, in a neighborhood near the river.

Book preview

Also by Wendy McClure

I’m Not the New Me

The Amazing Mackerel Pudding Plan

The Wilder Life

Don’t Trade the Baby for a Horse

And Other Ways to Make Your Life a Little More Laura Ingalls Wilder

Wendy McClure

Riverhead Books

New York

Contents

Title Page

Copyrights

Introduction

SAVOR CANDY

CHURN, BABY, CHURN

GIVE PA SOME CREDIT (THOUGH NOT ON THE WHEAT CROP)

EAT (ALMOST) ALL THE SUGAR

BE SMARTER THAN THE MUSKRATS (OR AT LEAST JUST AS SMART)

I HAVE ONLY TO GET THROUGH ONE DAY AT A TIME

KNOW YOUR WORRY SONG

DISCOVER YOUR SCOTCH INGENUITY

NOBODY CAN MAKE THE CREEK DO ANYTHING

DRESS FOR SUCCESS, PRAIRIE STYLE

YOU DON’T NEED TO HAVE INFLUENZA TO GO VIRAL IN DE SMET, SOUTH DAKOTA

GO WITH YOUR GUT FEELINGS

BUT EVEN BETTER FUN THAN A BALLOON WAS THE PIG’S TAIL

I TAN, TOO!

DON’T TRADE THE BABY FOR A HORSE

END WELL

About the Author

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A Riverhead eSpecial / published by arrangement with the author

Copyright © 2012 by Wendy McClure

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PUBLISHING HISTORY

Riverhead Books eSpecial / April 2012

ISBN: 978-101-57973-2

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