Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Family Collection brings together articles Wilder wrote, between 1911 and 1918, for the farm paper, Missouri Ruralist. These illuminating pieces reflect a mind in constant contemplation, a woman completely engaged in life, and a writer fully committed to conveying a message about meaningful living. Whether she is relaying the highlights of the great San Francisco Exposition of 1915 or recording the beauty of the landscape surrounding her Rocky Ridge farm home, Wilder's underlying theme of the value of hands-on, hearts-in living shines through.