This is our ninth year to celebrate the life and writing of Laura Ingalls Wilder by reading books by and about her. February seems a fitting month for this challenge since her birth and death both occurred in February.

Last year I shared why I thought Laura Ingalls Wilder was still worth reading.

If you’re looking for something other than the Little House books, I posted a Laura-related book list here. Some have also incorporated some LIW activities during that month. It’s not required, but I love to see and hear about it if you do. Annette at Little House Companion has some activities and other resources (By the way, keep an eye out for Annette’s upcoming book: The Laura Ingalls Wilder Companion due out in July!)

I don’t have many hard and fast rules about the challenge. Just sign up in the comments to let us know if you’re joining in. If you know what you’re going to read, we’d love to know: you can either share in the comments or share a link back to a post on your blog. Having a blog isn’t required.

Then, on Feb. 29, I’ll have a wrap-up post for the challenge where I’d love to hear what you read, what you thought, any corresponding activities you did. About a week later, to give people time to finish and comment, I’ll draw a name from those who participated to win their choice of a prize:

The Little House Cookbook compiled by Barbara M. Walker

OR

Laura’s Album: A Remembrance Scrapbook of Laura Ingalls Wilder by William Anderson

OR

Little House Coloring Book, which contains art and quotes from the books. It’s not designed as an “adult” coloring book, but adults could certainly use it. 🙂

If none of those suits you, I can substitute a similarly-priced Laura book of your choice. Unfortunately, I can only send physical books to US addresses due to shipping costs.

I mentioned earlier that this will be the last LIW reading challenge here. I’ve enjoyed hosting this challenge since 2012. I’ve thought about ending it the last couple of years due to waning participation and coming to an end of Laura-related things I wanted to read. But each year I’d come across another interesting book or two and decide to keep on. Now, however, I believe it’s time for me to draw this challenge to a close. If someone else would like to take it up next year, I’d be happy for you to do so.

As for this last year, I am planning to read The Mother-Daughter Book Club by Heather Vogel Frederick. It’s one of a series of novels about modern moms and middle-school daughters reading classic books. I don’t remember who recommended it to me. Modern fiction is often disappointing to me, but I have high hopes for this. I have one other title I might get to if I have time, but I am still conflicted about it. So we’ll see.

I’m looking forward to seeing what you are going to read!