Are you looking for a wonderful list of children’s books set in South Dakota? Here are some of our favorites! Each of these children’s books is either set in South Dakota or features a person who has close ties to the state. If you are a HUGE fan of the Little House series like I am, you’ll know that Laura Ingalls Wilder lived much of her early life around De Smet, South Dakota. Mt. Rushmore and the Black Hills are also a prominent natural feature, and the Lakota Sioux were South Dakota’s first inhabitants. If you’d like more information on each book, read more by clicking on the affiliate links listed below.
Buffalo Before Breakfast
Jack and Annie go back in time and befriend a Lakota Indian boy, but they must stop a buffalo stampede...
By the Shores of Silver Lake
The Ingalls family moves to the South Dakota wilderness when Pa gets a job with the railroad.
Crazy Horse
An informative biography about Crazy Horse, a Lakota Sioux chief.
Dakota Dugout
A description of early life on the South Dakota prairie as told by a woman who lived there.
Flat Stanley’s Worldwide Adventures: The Mount Rushmore Calamity
Flat Stanley and his family visit Mount Rushmore and find themselves caught up in an unexpected adventure.
Grasshopper Summer
A young pioneer boy and his family are devastated by an unexpected plague of grasshoppers on their South Dakota farm.
Hanging off Jefferson’s Nose
The story of the father who had the idea for Mount Rushmore and his son who fulfilled his father's dream.
Levi’s Lost Calf
Discover what life is really like on a South Dakota cattle ranch through the eyes of Levi, a young cattle...
Little Town on the Prairie
After surviving the long winter of 1880-1881, the Ingalls family settles into life in the town of De Smet, South...
Muskrat and Skunk: A Lakota Drum Story
A rhythmic story about the importance of drums to the Lakota tribe.