<P> Little House on the Prairie is a series of American children's novels written by Laura Ingalls Wilder based on her childhood in the northern Midwestern United States during the 1870s and 1880s . Eight were completed by Wilder, and published by Harper & Brothers from 1932 and 1943, of which the last covers her courtship with Almanzo Wilder and one covers his childhood . The first draft of a ninth novel was published posthumously in 1971 and is commonly included in the Little House series . </P> <P> Little House on the Prairie is also the title of the third - published book in the series and it may refer to the American media franchise that includes the fiction series, screen and stage adaptations, related non-fiction books by Ingalls Wilder, perhaps some books by her daughter Rose Wilder Lane (who assisted with the Little House series), several subseries by later writers featuring descendants, and some tourist attractions . </P> <P> The Little House series is based on decades - old memories of Laura Ingalls Wilder's childhood in the northern Midwest region of the United States late in the 19th century . The books are narrated in the third person with Laura Ingalls as the central character and protagonist, and are generally classified as fiction rather than as autobiography in libraries and bookstores . Wilder's daughter Rose Wilder Lane assisted her mother with the editing of the works . The depth of her involvement, and the extent of her influence on the theme and content of the books, has been the subject of some scholarly debate in recent years . Almost all Wilder scholars and her biographers consider that the writing of the books was a tense but ultimately effective continuing collaboration between mother and daughter, with Wilder writing the books and her daughter editing them . </P> <P> The original Little House books have remained continuously in print since their publication in the 1930s and early 1940s by Harper & Brothers (succeeded by Harper & Row and HarperCollins). They are considered classics of American children's literature and remain widely read . In a 2012 survey published by School Library Journal, a monthly with primarily U.S. audience, Little House in the Big Woods was ranked number 19 among all - time best children's novels, and two of its sequels were ranked among the top 100 . </P>

Where was little house on the prairie supposed to take place