"If anything, it is better than her enchanting Little House in the Big Woods. ... Laura is always in trouble, but a staunch young person when brought to the text. It is perfect Americana." The novel was the first of five Newbery Honor books for Wilder, books 4 to 8 in the series. In 1997, the novel was challenged by two parents from Winnipeg, Canada who took issue with the portrayal of Native Americans in it and wanted a local school division to pull it from its libraries and lessons. The word "Indian", referring to Native Americans, appears 12 times in it, most of them dealing with the Ingalls' time in Indian Territory. However, at one point Mary tells Laura to keep her sunbonnet on or "You'll be as brown as an Indian, and what will the town girls think of us?" She also says, "I wish I was an Indian and never had to wear clothes!" The complaint was eventually withdrawn. After failing at farming in the Dakotas in the 1890s—drought, illness, and fire contributing—Wilder moved with her husband, Almanzo, and young daughter, Rose, to the Ozarks in Missouri. Decades later, she, who had been writing columns and editing for a regional farm newspaper, was encouraged by Rose to write a memoir of growing up on the frontier for national serialization—mostly for financial reasons. Wilder wrote "Pioneer Girl", an adult version of her autobiography, before she wrote her book series. When it proved unsellable to publishers, Rose suggested they rethink it, leading to the series. Some of the real-life events were either softened or taken out entirely for a younger audience.