David Rapp

In 1932, during the Great Depression, Harper & Brothers (now HarperCollins) published a children’s novel by a 60-something first-time author, which fictionalized the story of her hardscrabble pioneer family.

The spinoff, in which a secondary character from one popular series becomes the protagonist of another, is a venerable tradition in literature, TV, and film. Diana Gabaldon’s bestselling Outlander books, for instance, have spawned severalhistorical mysterynovels and novellas that focus on popular side character Lord John Grey.

Watch for Kirkus’ in-depth column on Little House on the Prairie, based on the series of autobiographical children’s novels by Laura Ingalls Wilder about her homesteading family in the American Midwest. The first season will be based on the titular Kirkus-starred series entry, which was first published back in 1935.