Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Little House in Brookfield | 1996 | Maria Wilkes | Buy |
| 2 | Little Town at the Crossroads | 1997 | Maria Wilkes | Buy |
| 3 | Little Clearing in the Woods | 1998 | Maria Wilkes | Buy |
| 4 | On Top of Concord Hill | 2000 | Maria Wilkes | Buy |
| 5 | A New Little Cabin | 2001 | Maria Wilkes | Buy |
| 6 | Little City by the Lake | 2003 | Maria Wilkes | Buy |
| 7 | A Little House of Their Own | 2005 | Maria Wilkes | Buy |
| 8 | Across the Rolling River | 2011 | Maria Wilkes | Buy |
The series begins in 1845, with five-year-old Caroline living in a frame house in Brookfield, Wisconsin with her mother, grandmother, and five siblings. Her father was lost at sea the year before, which means the family is already managing hardship from the first page. Little House in Brookfield (1996) establishes the setting and the household, and subsequent books, Little Town at the Crossroads, Little Clearing in the Woods, On Top of Concord Hill, and others, follow Caroline through the seasons and years of her Wisconsin childhood.
Maria D. Wilkes conducted extensive research for the series, consulting the Laura Ingalls Wilder estate and drawing on family letters and diaries. The goal was to match the warmth and historical accuracy of Wilder’s own books while telling a story that stood on its own. Caroline is a curious, determined girl, and the books trace how her circumstances shaped the woman she became.
The series was published by HarperCollins between 1996 and 2011 and includes both full-length novels and shorter chapter book adaptations for younger readers. Fans of the original Little House books consistently find the Caroline Years a satisfying complement to Wilder’s work.