--- description: "Things of real value do not change" title: Read: Letter From Laura Ingalls Wilder to Japanese Children image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt43e2183d1327cd8a/69887ebd0b72e381c46e8411/wilder.jpeg?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Books](/tag/books/) ## Books Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Read a Moving Letter From Laura Ingalls Wilder on the 'Things Worthwhile in Life' by [William Anderson](/author/william-anderson/) ## William Anderson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 7, 2016 4:00 PM CUT  Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867-1957) as schoolteacher, 1887. Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867-1957) as schoolteacher, 1887.Heritage Images/Getty Images by [William Anderson](/author/william-anderson/) ## William Anderson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 7, 2016 4:00 PM CUT _The United States’ State Department compiled a list of American books for translation into Japanese as part of a reeducation program in the occupied country._ The Long Winter _was one of the first titles published. Laura was asked to write a message to Japanese children as a result._ --- > “” ---  HarperCollins _From THE SELECTED LETTERS OF LAURA INGALLS WILDER by William Anderson Copyright © 2016 by William Anderson. Reprinted courtesy of Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4234438/letter-laura-ingalls-wilder-2/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4234438/letter-laura-ingalls-wilder-2/"},"headline":"Read a Moving Letter From Laura Ingalls Wilder on the 'Things Worthwhile in Life'","datePublished":"2016-03-07T16:00:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:00:21.826Z","description":"The Little House on the Prairie author wrote this note—excerpted from a new book of her letters—to the children of Japan in 1948","url":"https://time.com/4234438/letter-laura-ingalls-wilder-2/","keywords":["Books"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt43e2183d1327cd8a/69887ebd0b72e381c46e8411/wilder.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"William Anderson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/william-anderson/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt43e2183d1327cd8a/69887ebd0b72e381c46e8411/wilder.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867-1957) as schoolteacher, 1887","caption":"Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867-1957) as schoolteacher, 1887","creditText":"Heritage Images/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4234438/letter-laura-ingalls-wilder-2/","name":"Read a Moving Letter From Laura Ingalls Wilder on the 'Things Worthwhile in Life'"}}]}] ```