Little House: Answering Your Questions
Is it true they are getting rid of the Garth Williams illustrations in Laura’s books?
Only in the new paperback editions with the photographic covers. The Garth Williams art will still appear in the hardcover editions of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books, as well as the colorized paperback editions.
Are Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books being abridged?
No, only the Martha, Charlotte, Caroline, and Rose books are being abridged.
I want to buy the original, unabridged editions of your Martha and Charlotte books. How can I be sure that’s what I’m getting?
The new, abridged editions will have photo covers. The unabridged editions have the painted covers that appear in my sidebar.
Can you give me a list of all your books in order?
The Martha books are:
Little House in the Highlands
The Far Side of the Loch
Down to the Bonny Glen
Beyond the Heather Hills
The Charlotte books are:
Little House by Boston Bay
On Tide Mill Lane
The Road from Roxbury
Across the Puddingstone Dam
Oh no! Is The Road from Roxbury (unabridged) already out of print? I can’t find it at Amazon.
Try smaller booksellers such as those affiliated with the various Little House museum sites around the country.
And thank you so very much for your interest!
Related posts:
Little House news
More about my decision
helene says:
bookcloseouts.com still has several of the books left.
On February 11, 2007 at 11:11 am
Jen Robinson says:
I’m so sorry to hear this news, Lissa. But I commend you on sticking with your principles! I always meant to read these two series, but I thought that I had plenty of time. I went today and ordered the ones that are available from Amazon. I think I was also influenced by your other post, where you were talking about how you don’t buy books used if they’re in print and the author is alive, etc. You made some good points!
On February 11, 2007 at 3:53 pm
Wendy in VA says:
I knew we had all your books, because they’ve been read at least 3-4 times each, but I made Grace bring them downstairs so we could double-check. lol Grace wants to know, as she is in the middle of her first novel :o), why you don’t have more say over what happens to your books? Dh and I want to applaud you and Scott for sticking to your principles, even when it meant such big changes for your family. And I just moved a hardcover copy of The Penderwicks from my Amazon wishlist to my cart. lol Now I’m impatiently awaiting more news about your next book…. :o)
On February 12, 2007 at 9:50 am
The LLama Butchers says:
Zoot alors!
This is something The Dear One needs to know RIGHT NOW! Fortunately, it’s times like this that I work so hard to make the LLamabutchers the source of eclectic knowledge that it is. Unfortunately, at times like this, The Dear…
On February 13, 2007 at 5:47 pm
Kemara says:
Melissa,
I’ve been a Little House fan since my parents gave me the yellow boxed set for Christmas when I was 8 or so. I remember tearing off the plastic and opening the first book at once…the other presents forgotten. Over the years I colored the illustrations with markers and crayons. I’m 30 now, but I still love children’s literature…that original set of Laura’s books is tattered and missing pages. I have all the Rose and Caroline books as well as your Charlotte and Martha series. I’m so sorry you won’t be finishing them, but I’m glad you aren’t going along with the “dumbing down” idea.
One of my other favorite authors, Diane Duane, is posting a continuation to her Young Wizards series online with subscribers getting access to chapters before the general public. Could you do something like that with the rest of Charlotte and Martha’s stories or does the publisher have control?
On February 14, 2007 at 3:26 am
Melissa Wiley says:
Kemara, the publisher owns the copyright to all the Martha, Charlotte, Caroline, and Rose books. HarperCollins will probably find another writer to finish my series.
On February 14, 2007 at 7:32 am
Melissa Wiley says:
Wendy (hi!!), please let your daughter know I appreciate her interest! When I agreed to write these books, I knew that it was an unusual situation in that I would not be the copyright holder of my own work. Ordinarily, the author would have more say over this kind of decision.
On February 14, 2007 at 7:36 am
Nissa says:
Lissa,
I’m so sad that you won’t be finishing, but I think you made a good decision. I can’t imagine having your work cut down so severely. Must feel a bit like losing a limb…
I mentioned it on my podcast today…
Bless you!
On February 16, 2007 at 11:38 am
Jenny in Ca says:
I’m sad too that you won’t be able to finish the series. I have to admit that I haven’t read them yet…a series I had in mind to get to sometime with my girls. After reading the news about the changes coming I went ahead and ordered a few at Amazon. The first book wasn’t available, I am going to check my local bookstore. Thank you for warning us on your blog that they were going out of print. I enjoy reading your blog very much, and I know I will enjoy your books feeling like I know you from your blog. I think your decision was really brave. I think we all wonder at sometime what the strength of our convictions are…you have had them tested in a very real way with real consequences.
On February 24, 2007 at 1:11 am
Julie says:
I just found this blog today. I have been patiently waiting for the new books in the Martha & Charlotte series since I discovered them a year ago! I am glad that you decided to stand on your principles, and I completely agree with you. By the time I finished the 3rd grade, I had read all of the Little House books 3 times. Needless to say, once I found your books, I read them several times. I have to say that I cried when I found out that I’ll never know how the little Laird’s daughter ended up across the ocean with the blacksmith’s son.
I am sure that you have been asked this before, but is there any chance that you could finish the series with another publisher? Does HarperCollins have the rights to the stories? If you ever have an inkling to finish their stories (on this blog or in a book)…I’m sure that there are many people who would be delighted beyond expression.
On June 13, 2007 at 6:00 pm