¹     Is 65 years old too old? Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote her first book when she was 65 years old. Her books are about her childhood. She wrote them so it would sound like a child was telling the story. Little House in the Big Woods was the first book in the series.
 
²     Laura Elizabeth Ingalls was born in February 1867 in Wisconsin. There were four girls in her family. She was born second. Her mother's name was Caroline. Her father's name was Charles. Charles dreamed of exploring. He moved the family often. They traveled in a covered wagon. They finally settled in South Dakota. Laura felt that she never knew where her home was. She decided that wherever her family was, that was her home.
 
³     Laura's mother thought education was very important. She wanted her girls to go to school wherever they were. Sometimes they lived in a place that didn't have school. Most of the time she began school, but then had to move. The schools that she went to were in a one room schoolhouse. She started school when she was four. Laura went to school until she was 16. She did not graduate. Sometimes Laura had to stop going to school. She had to work because her family needed money. She often sewed for other people. She earned 25 cents a day. Then Laura got a teaching certificate. Her first teaching job was hard. She had to move away from her family. She lived with another family. The children that she taught were close to her age. She was homesick.

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