When I was in the second grade, completely by chance, my teacher persuaded me to buy Little House on the Prairie at a Scholastic book fair. Somewhere I owe Mrs. Mayes a big ol' hug and thanks, because that book changed my life. I was already a big reader, but I literally wore that book out, and it transformed my imagination into the world of a simple pioneer girl traveling through the plains of Kansas. Imagine how excited I was at Christmas when I opened a gift from my aunt and found out that there were eight more books! Even now, twentysomething years later, I could sit here and tell you the storyline of each book chapter-by-chapter, and could probably even quote portions of them.

So now I'm very happy to hear that the true adaptations of the original books are finally coming to television next month. Yes, yes, everyone knows about the Michael Landon series and everyone else of my generation thinks that Melissa Gilbert is Laura Ingalls. I don't. My mom didn't let me watch that show because she said that it didn't follow the books, and she had a point. The few times that I've watched it as an adult, it's annoyed me. Mary never got married! Walnut Grove never blew up! I understand artistic license, but cmon! I'm glad to see someone attempt to do a version that's true to the books, and I hope that they even fill in the unpublished Iowa years (yes, I'm a true fan.) And in the meantime, I'll keep saving my pennies to make the Homesite Tour.