Kutztown Community Library celebrated author Laura Ingalls Wilder’s 150th birthday with a birthday cake and hosted the program “Beyond Little House” on Feb. 18.
Fans of the world-famous Little House books gathered in the Community Room for a program presented by author Annette Whipple who writes non-fiction for children.
“I love to research and share that new knowledge with others,” said Whipple. “This program is about Laura Ingalls Wilder. We’re celebrating her 150th birthday today. This is about her adult life, how that pioneer girl became a world-famous author.”
She hopes attendees appreciate Laura Ingalls Wilder as an author as well as her pioneer stories that she shared through her books. Her favorite part about the program is hearing what the audience members remember from the books and what they’ve learned themselves.
“It’s all about Laura’s life but it’s also about the books that we love and how the American pioneers lived,” said Whipple.
To the audience, she said, “In a way that is engaging, in a way that helps us to understand history.”
Born on Feb. 7, 1867, Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote about her childhood as an American pioneer in the nine Little House books. Wilder was age 65 when the first Little House book was published in 1932.
“I think it’s amazing that she knew she had an important story to share and she took the time to share it with us,” said Whipple. “Her legacy lives on in her books. You have a story to tell, too. Share it like Laura.”
Attendees, young and old, shared their memories of reading the series and shared details they knew from reading the books. Fleetwood resident Lisa Koncsics brought her youngest daughter Charlotte, 7, to the program. They are big fans of the Little House books. Charlotte wore a pioneer dress and bonnet.
“We love Laura. I have four daughters so we’ve been doing the Laura stories for a long time. She’s my youngest and we just started reading Little House on the Prairie the last few weeks,” said Koncsics.
Charlotte likes Jack the dog in the story.
“I like that they’re sweet, they’re simple and there’s a lot of good virtues. There’s kindness and those kinds of things,” said Koncsics.
She enjoyed coming to the program.
“I try to get her out and do things that are just special for her,” said Koncsics. “We just love the library. We love books, we love libraries.”
For more about Laura Ingalls Wilder visit www.LittleHouseCompanion.com. For more about Annette Whipple visit www.AnnetteWhipple.com.
