Little House in the Big Woods cover – Little House on the Prairie Books in Order

Little House on the Prairie Books in Order: All 9 Books + Netflix Guide

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Little House Books in Order: The Short Answer

There are nine Little House books written by Laura Ingalls Wilder, published between 1932 and 1971. Read them in publication order, starting with Little House in the Big Woods:

  1. Little House in the Big Woods (1932)
  2. Farmer Boy (1933)
  3. Little House on the Prairie (1935)
  4. On the Banks of Plum Creek (1937)
  5. By the Shores of Silver Lake (1939)
  6. The Long Winter (1940)
  7. Little Town on the Prairie (1941)
  8. These Happy Golden Years (1943)
  9. The First Four Years (1971)

That is the order most readers want. But there are three things worth knowing before you start: the ninth book is not like the other eight, the real-life events did not happen in the order the books suggest, and if you came here from the Netflix series, you may want to start in a different place. All of that is below.

All Nine Little House Books in Publication Order

# Title Published Where it's set Laura's age in the book
1 Little House in the Big Woods 1932 Near Pepin, Wisconsin 4–5
2 Farmer Boy 1933 Malone, New York Not in it — this is Almanzo's story, age 9
3 Little House on the Prairie 1935 Montgomery County, Kansas 6–7
4 On the Banks of Plum Creek 1937 Walnut Grove, Minnesota 7–9
5 By the Shores of Silver Lake 1939 De Smet, Dakota Territory 12–13
6 The Long Winter 1940 De Smet, Dakota Territory 14
7 Little Town on the Prairie 1941 De Smet, Dakota Territory 15
8 These Happy Golden Years 1943 De Smet, Dakota Territory 15–18
9 The First Four Years 1971 De Smet, Dakota Territory 18–22 (married)

Books 1 through 8 were published while Wilder was alive and were written for children. Book 9 was not.

Why The First Four Years is different

The First Four Years was found in manuscript form after the death of Wilder's daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, in 1968, and published in 1971 — fourteen years after Wilder herself had died. It was never revised and never submitted to her publisher, and from her letters it appears she was writing it for adults rather than as a ninth children's book.

It reads that way. It covers Laura and Almanzo's first four years of marriage: crop failures, debt, illness, a house fire, and the death of an infant son. It is short, unpolished, and considerably darker than the eight books before it.

Our advice: read books 1–8 as the series. Save The First Four Years for older readers, or read it yourself first and decide. Many families finish with These Happy Golden Years, which ends on Laura's wedding day, and treat book 9 as optional.

Where Do the Netflix Books Fit In?

Netflix premiered a new adaptation of Little House on the Prairie on July 9, 2026, developed by Rebecca Sonnenshine with Alice Halsey as Laura. It has already been renewed for a second season. It is a fresh adaptation of Wilder's books rather than a remake of the Michael Landon series that ran on NBC from 1974 to 1983.

Season one draws mainly on book 3, Little House on the Prairie — the Ingalls family leaving Wisconsin by wagon and settling near Independence, Kansas, on land belonging to the Osage. It also pulls background from book 1, Little House in the Big Woods.

So if you watched the series and want to read along:

  • Start with book 3, Little House on the Prairie, if you want the book the season is based on. It stands alone perfectly well.
  • Start with book 1, Little House in the Big Woods, if you want the whole series from the beginning. It is also the gentlest book and the best read-aloud of the nine.
  • Skip ahead to book 6, The Long Winter, if you want the single most gripping book in the series. Most longtime readers name it the best of the nine.

Be prepared for differences. The new series adds Osage characters and perspectives that are largely absent from Wilder's version, and it is a more grounded survival story than the 1970s show. The books are Laura's memory of her own childhood, softened and shaped for young readers.

Chronological Order vs. Publication Order

You will see a lot of pages claim that publication order and chronological order are identical. That is almost true for Laura's story as told in the books — but not quite, and not at all for the real events.

Chronological order as the books tell it

Within the story, the only book out of sequence is Farmer Boy. It is book 2 by publication, but it is not about Laura at all — it follows nine-year-old Almanzo Wilder on his family's prosperous farm in Malone, New York, around 1866. Almanzo is roughly ten years older than Laura, so Farmer Boy takes place before the events of Little House in the Big Woods.

Strict chronological order would therefore be: Farmer Boy, then books 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.

In practice, almost nobody reads it that way. Farmer Boy is a change of pace — a different family, a different state, and a boy who eats extraordinarily well — and it lands better once you already care about the world. Some families read it second as published; others save it until after These Happy Golden Years, when Almanzo has become a character you know.

The real chronological order is different again

Here is the part most reading guides leave out. The Ingalls family's actual travels did not follow the books.

Laura was born near Pepin, Wisconsin, in February 1867. In 1869 — when she was two — the family left Wisconsin, spent a short time in Missouri, and then settled on Osage land near Independence, Kansas. Laura's sister Carrie was born there in 1870. Facing removal from land they had no right to, the family returned to the Wisconsin cabin in 1871 and stayed about three years.

In other words, the Kansas prairie years of book 3 really happened before the Big Woods years of book 1, and Laura was a toddler for both. Wilder rearranged them into a single westward journey because it made a better story.

Her age was adjusted too. Laura was around three during the events of Little House in the Big Woods, but she is five in the book. According to a letter from Rose Wilder Lane to biographer William Anderson, the publisher asked for the change — it strained belief that a three-year-old would remember so much detail. To keep things consistent, Wilder then wrote herself as six or seven in Little House on the Prairie.

None of this makes the books less true to the life they describe. But it does mean there is no "correct" chronological order that matches history. Publication order is the order Wilder intended, and it is the one to read.

Reading Ages and Read-Aloud Notes

The series is generally pitched at ages 7 to 12, roughly grades 2 through 6, but the books get longer and heavier as they go.

  • Read-aloud from about age 4–5: Little House in the Big Woods. Short chapters, no real peril, and a lot of how-things-are-made detail that young children love.
  • Independent readers, roughly grades 2–3: books 1 and 3.
  • Roughly grades 3–5: books 2, 4, 7 and 8.
  • Strongest readers, and best read-aloud for a family with a range of ages: The Long Winter. It is the longest of the nine at around 334 pages and the most intense — months of blizzards, a town running out of food. It is also the one children remember.
  • Older readers only: The First Four Years, for the reasons above.

A note for families: the books contain period attitudes toward Native Americans, particularly in Little House on the Prairie, that most parents will want to talk about rather than skip past. The Ingalls family were squatting on Osage land, and the books largely tell it from the settlers' side. Reading those chapters together — rather than handing the book over and hoping — tends to work best.

Books That Are Not Actually Part of the Series

Searching for Little House books turns up a lot of titles Wilder did not write. Quick guide:

  • On the Way Home, West from Home, The Road Back — real Wilder writing, but travel diaries and letters, not novels. Worth reading after the series if you're hooked.
  • The Rocky Ridge Years (Little House on Rocky Ridge and sequels) — about Rose Wilder Lane, written by Roger Lea MacBride decades later.
  • The Caroline, Charlotte and Martha Years — prequel series about Laura's mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, by other authors.
  • My First Little House Books — picture-book adaptations for preschoolers, drawn from scenes in the originals.
  • Pioneer Girl — Wilder's original unfictionalized autobiography, published in annotated form in 2014. Excellent, and for adults.

All of these are enjoyable. None of them are the nine.

Build the Set in Used Copies

A full Little House set new runs close to $70. Used, you can usually put the whole thing together for a fraction of that — and honestly, these books look better a little worn.

Here's what we have on the shelf right now:

Best value right now: we have a six-book Little House lot for $4.99 that includes By the Shores of Silver Lake, The Long Winter, Little House on the Prairie, The First Four Years and two of the Rocky Ridge titles. It's the cheapest way to fill in the middle of the series.

Stock on used books moves fast, so see everything by Laura Ingalls Wilder we have in stock today. Free shipping on orders over $15 — which is about three books.

Building a homeschool shelf? Our book bundles for ages 8–12 and middle grade chapter books pair well with the Little House years.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many Little House books are there?

Nine, written by Laura Ingalls Wilder and published between 1932 and 1971. Eight appeared during her lifetime; The First Four Years was published posthumously in 1971.

What is the first Little House book?

Little House in the Big Woods (1932), set in a log cabin near Pepin, Wisconsin. It is the best starting point for nearly every reader.

Do I have to read them in order?

No. Each book stands on its own, and Little House on the Prairie and The Long Winter in particular are commonly read first. Reading in order gives you Laura growing up across the nine books, which is most of the pleasure of the series.

Which Little House book is the Netflix series based on?

Season one draws primarily on book 3, Little House on the Prairie, with background from book 1. The series is a new adaptation of the books, not a remake of the 1974–1983 NBC show.

Which Little House book is the best?

The Long Winter, by most accounts. It's the story of the blizzard-bound winter of 1880–81 in De Smet, and it is genuinely tense.

Is Farmer Boy part of the series?

Yes, it's book 2 — but it follows Almanzo Wilder's childhood in New York, not Laura's. Almanzo later becomes Laura's husband. Some readers save it until after book 8 for that reason.

What order did the events really happen in?

The family's real Kansas years (1869–1870) came before the Wisconsin years described in book 1, and Laura was a toddler for both. Wilder reordered events and raised her own age in the books to make a single, coherent story.

What reading level are the Little House books?

Roughly ages 7–12, grades 2–6. Little House in the Big Woods works as a read-aloud from about age four; The First Four Years is better suited to older readers.

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