Mary Pope Osborne

Sal Murdocca

Hello, buffalo! That’s what Jack and Annie say when the Magic Tree House whisks them and Teddy, the enchanted dog, back almost 200 years to the Great Plains. There they meet a Lakota boy who shows them how to hunt buffalo. But something goes wrong! Now they need to stop a thousand buffalo from stampeding!

Buffalo Before Breakfast

Judith Viorst

Robin Preiss Glasser

The rest of Alexander’s family is moving a thousand miles away, but there’s NO way Alexander is going to leave his best friend, his favorite babysitter, or all the places and people he’s known all his life. Even if he has to live in a tree house or a tent or a cave!

Alexander, who's not (Do you hear me? I mean it!) Going to move

Stan Berenstain

Jan Berenstain

The Bear family decides it is time to move to a larger house.

The Berenstain Bears' Moving Day

Paula Danziger

Tony Ross

Amber Brown and Justin Daniels are best friends. They’ve known each other for practically forever, sit next to each other in class, help each other with homework, and always stick up for each other. Justin never says things like, “Amber Brown is not a crayon.” Amber never says, “Justin Time.” They’re a great team—until disaster strikes. Justin has to move away, and now the best friends are fighting. Will they be able to work it out before it’s too late?

Amber Brown Is Not a Crayon

Lisa Campbell Ernst

When Little Red Riding Hood sets off to deliver muffins to her grandmother, you can bet that a big bad wolf isn’t far behind! Set on the midwestern prairie, this is a Little Red Riding Hood that will captivate youngsters with its feisty heroines and bold humor. Especially to be relished is the way the story line plays against the classic tale’s plot, with laugh-provoking lines that show true wit. As the dastardly wolf chuckles, appreciating his own schemes, the text soars, suspense builds, and vibrant pictures bring out all of the fun.

Little Red Riding Hood: A Newfangled Prairie Tale

Paul Goble

“There was a girl in the village who loved horses… She led the horses to drink at the river. She spoke softly and they followed. People noticed that she understood horses in a special way.” And so begins the story of a young Native American girl devoted to the care of her tribe’s horses. With simple text and brilliant illustrations. Paul Goble tells how she eventually becomes one of them to forever run free.

The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses

Laura Ingalls Wilder

Ji-Hyuk Kim

Join the original pioneer girl in this Little House chapter book, adapted for younger readers from Laura Ingalls Wilder’s beloved classics.

Illustrated with beautiful new black-and-white artwork, this repackaged edition includes bonus material such as games, activities, and more!

For Laura Ingalls, Christmas means good things to eat, visits from friends, and special gifts to give and receive. As Laura grows up, every Christmas is better than the one before.

Christmas Stories

Renee Graef

With the My First Little House picture book series, the youngest readers can share in the joy of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books in these illustrated adaptations of the beloved series!

Laura, Pa, Ma, Mary, and baby Carrie have traveled from the Big Woods to the prairie in their covered wagon, driving through tall grass until they found just the right spot for their new home. With the help of their kind neighbor, Mr. Edwards, Pa builds a snug little house for the family in the middle of the wide-open prairie.

Renee Graef’s illustrations are based on Garth Williams’ classic artwork.

A Little Prairie House

Holly Jones

Traditional American songs that Laura Ingalls Wilder and her family would have known, including “Pop! Goes the Weasel,” “America,” and “Oh, Susanna,” are introduced by appropriate excerpts from the “Little House” books.

My Little House Songbook

Susan McAliley

Shows how Laura spends her days at the little house on the prairie

Hello, Laura!

Christmas is coming to the little house on the prairie, but Laura and Mary Ingalls are worried. It has been raining for days now, and Santa and his reindeer cannot travel without snow. Will Santa visit their log cabin this year?

Laura Ingalls Wilder’s heartwarming story, taken unabridged from the beloved little house on the prairie, combined with Renée Graef’s vibrant, rich illustrations, makes santa comes to little house a holiday classic for families to share year after year.

Santa Comes to Little House

Now the very youngest readers can share in the Little House adventures with these four new board books! In Hello, Laura!, visit Laura in her little house on the prairie. Join Laura as she helps Ma plant a vegetable garden in Laura’s Garden and Pa build a door for the little house in Laura Helps Pa. And even bedtime is fun as Laura goes to sleep to the sound of Pa’s fiddle in Bedtime for Laura. These sturdy new My First Little House board books are the perfect introduction to the world’s favorite pioneer adventure.

Bedtime for Laura

Betsy Cromer Byars

Sue Truesdell

The Golly Sisters are heading west. They’ve got new dresses and the best show on either side of the Mississippi. But can they keep their act together long enough to get this show on the road?

The Golly Sisters Go West

Lois Lenski

There were lots of children on Hill Street, but there were no little girls Betsy’s age. So when a family moved into the house across the street, Betsy hoped they would have a little girl she could play with. Sure enough, they did. The girl’s name was Tacy, and after a while she and Betsy became such good friends that everybody thought of them as one person - Betsy-Tacy. Betsy-Tacy did all kinds of things. They made a playhouse from a piano box. They went to their first day of school together and even sat in the same seat. They rode in the milkman’s wagon. And Betsy made up wonderful stories that they kept as their own special secrets. Then they met Tib, who came to share in their games. Ever since their first publication in the 1940s, the Betsy-Tacy stories have been loved by each generation of young readers.

Betsy-Tacy

Patricia MacLachlan

Sarah came to the prairie from Maine to marry Papa. But that summer, a drought turned the land dry and blown. Fires swept across the fields and coyotes came to the well in search of water. So Sarah took Anna and Caleb back east, where they would be safe. Papa stayed behind. He would not leave his land.

Skylark

The third book in the series that began with the Newbery Medal-winning Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan.Anna has done something terrible. She has given me a journal to fill.It’s your job now, Anna says as she hands Caleb her journals, asking him to continue writing the family story. But Sarah, Jacob, Anna, Caleb, and their new little sister, Cassie, have already formed a family, and Caleb fears there will be nothing left to write about. That is, before Cassie discovers a mysterious old man in the barn, and everything changes. Everyone is excited about the arrival of a new family member–except for Jacob, who holds a bitter grudge. Only the special love of Caleb, and the gift he offers, can help to mend the pain of the past.

Caleb's Story

The fourth book in the series that began with the Newbery Medal-winning Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan.I am a watcher. I am a listener, too. I am invisible. I can make myself so small and quiet and hidden that sometimes no one knows I am there to watch and listen.Cassie spends her days watching Grandfather and Caleb in the barn, looking out at Papa working the fields, spying on her mother, Sarah, feeding the goslings. She’s an observer, a writer, a storyteller. Everything is as it should be.But change is inevitable, even on the prairie. Something new is expected, and Sarah says it will be the perfect gift. Cassie isn’t so sure. But just as life changes, people change too. And Cassie learns that unexpected surprises can bring great joy.

More Perfect Than the Moon

The fifth book in the series that began with the Newbery Medal-winning Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan.Jack leans back on Grandfather’s shoulder. Aunt Mattie’s knitting needles click in the dark. The moon rises. The candle flickers in the gentle prairie wind. I close my eyes to keep everything there.Could anything be more perfect than a prairie wedding? Cassie Witting doesn’t think so, for her sister Anna’s wedding brings two lovebirds together, aunts from faraway Maine, a long white dress with a wedding veil, dancing under a clear blue sky, and a world that smells of roses.As the Witting family comes together for this most special day, Cassie sees that life brings the change of seasons, brother Jack on Grandfather’s lap, joy, sorrow, and a special dance only Grandfather does.

Grandfather's Dance

Barry Moser

The stunning picture book collaboration between Newbery Medal-winning author Patricia MacLachlan and acclaimed illustrator Barry Moser.A young girl comes to terms with the fact that she and her family are leaving the prairie. As she talks herself into acceptance, her Mama helps her let go, commenting that the baby will need someone to tell him where he came from. So the girl gathers mementos–a bag of earth and a piece of cottonwood tree.”As with Sarah, Plain and Tall, the subtext vibrates. So much is told in each perfectly chosen phrase. The story is deep and specific, but the pain and denial of a child leaving a known and loved place is all too universal. Moser’s finely-wrought engravings, enhanced by moody tints, record the departure.”–School Library Journal 1995 American Bookseller Association Pick of the Lists

What You Know First

Erwin Madrid

Experience life on the prairie–with one fantastical twist! Louisa Brody’s life on the Colorado prairie is not at all what she expected. Her dear Pa, accused of thievery, is locked thirty miles away in jail. She’s living with the awful Smirches, her closest neighbors and the very family that accused her Pa of the horrendous crime. And now she’s discovered one very cantankerous–and magical–secret beneath the hazel grove. With her life flipped upside-down, it’s up to Louisa, her sassy friend Jessamine, and that cranky secret to save Pa from a guilty verdict. Ten bold illustrations from Erwin Madrid accompany seasoned storyteller Melissa Wiley’s vibrant and enchanting tale of life on the prairie–with one magical twist.

The Prairie Thief

Abandoned by her white father, thirteen-year-old Red Dove faces another lean winter with her Lakota family on the Great Plains. Willful and proud, she is presented with a stark choice: leave her people to live in the white world, or stay and watch them starve. Red Dove begins a journey to find her place in the world and discovers that her greatest power comes from within herself.

Red Dove, Listen to the Wind

C.W. Anderson

Billy was a little boy who “loved horses more than anything else in the world.” Imagine how happy he was when he got his very own pony for his birthday! From that day on, Billy was seldom seen without his new friend, Blaze. Riding through fields and woods, Billy and Blaze learned to trust and understand one another - and to jump fences and fallen trees with ease. They were a great team, but were they good enough to win the gleaming silver cup at the Mason Horse Show? This is the first book in the classic Billy and Blaze series. Sensitive drawings and easy-to-read words capture the warmth and gentle understanding between a boy and his horse.

Billy and Blaze

Gary Paulsen

Mr. Tucket

Garth Williams

Laura Ingalls Wilder is beginning her life with her new husband, Almanzo, in their own little house. Laura is a young pioneer wife now, and must work hard with Almanzo, farming the land around their home on the South Dakota prairie. Soon their baby daughter, Rose, is born, and the young family must face the hardships and triumphs encountered by so many American pioneers.

The First Four Years

Bill Farnsworth

Reading the prairie  It’s the 1880s, Noah works hard on the family farm and roams free on the Colorado prairie. One day his Aunt Dora arrives to give him some schooling. Noah doesn’t think he needs it. What use is reading on the prairie? But what Noah discovers will change his life forever.

Prairie School

Shelley Tougas

A life on the prairie is not all its cracked up to be for one girl whose mom takes her love of the Little House series just a bit too far. Charlotte’s mom has just moved the family across the country to live in Walnut Grove, “childhood home of pioneer author Laura Ingalls Wilder.” Mom’s idea is that the spirit of Laura Ingalls will help her write a bestselling book. But Charlotte knows better: Walnut Grove is just another town where Mom can avoid responsibility. And this place is worse than everywhere else the family has lived—it’s freezing in the winter, it’s small with nothing to do, and the people talk about Laura Ingalls all the time. Charlotte’s convinced her family will not be able to make a life on the prairie—until the spirit of Laura Ingalls starts getting to her, too.

Laura Ingalls Is Ruining My Life

Syd Hoff

He likes his new room and his new street. The policeman and the mailman are very nice. But what Freddy really needs are friends - and he looks everywhere until he finds them!

Who Will Be My Friends?

Monique Gray Smith

Danielle Daniel

This vibrant picture book, beautifully illustrated by celebrated artist Danielle Daniel, encourages children to show love and support for each other and to consider each other’s well-being in their everyday actions. Consultant, international speaker and award-winning author Monique Gray Smith wrote You Hold Me Up to prompt a dialogue among young people, their care providers and educators about Reconciliation and the importance of the connections children make with their friends, classmates and families. This is a foundational book about building relationships, fostering empathy and encouraging respect between peers, starting with our littlest citizens. Orca Book Publishers is pleased to offer this hardcover picture book as a dual-language (English and Plains Cree) edition.

You Hold Me Up / Ki Kîhcêyimin Mâna

An adventure to blow you away! That’s what Jack and Annie get when the Magic Tree House whisks them back to the 1870s. They land on the prairie near a one-room schoolhouse, where they meet a teenage schoolteacher, some cool kids, and one big, scary bully. But the biggest and scariest thing is yet to come!

Twister on Tuesday

O. Henry

Lisbeth Zwerger

Michael Neugebauer

A husband and wife sacrifice treasured possessions in order to buy each other Christmas presents.

The Gift of the Magi

William Kurelek

A young boy’s daily activities on a prairie farm in the winter reflect the author’s youth in Alberta, Canada, during the 1930s

A Prairie Boy's Winter

Barb Rosenstock

Christopher Silas Neal

Frank Lloyd Wright, a young boy from the prairie, becomes America’s first world-famous architect in this inspirational nonfiction picture book introducing organic architecture – a style he created based on the relationship between buildings and the natural world – which transformed the American home.**  

Frank Lloyd Wright loved the Wisconsin prairie where he was born, with its wide-open sky and waves of tall grass. As his family moved across the United States, young Frank found his own home in shapes: rectangles, triangles, half-moons, and circles. When he returned to his beloved prairie, Frank pursued a career in architecture. But he didn’t think the Victorian-era homes found there fit the prairie landscape. Using his knowledge and love of shapes, Frank created houses more organic to the land. He redesigned the American home inside and out, developing a truly unique architecture style that celebrated the country’s landscape and lifestyle. Author Barb Rosenstock and artist Christopher Silas Neal explore the early life and creative genius of architect Frank Lloyd Wright, highlighting his passion, imagination, and ingenuity.

Top 10 The Great Plains Books

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