The first lady made a trip to the Ozarks on Friday to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum in Mansfield, Missouri.

Laura Bush said Wilder's house is a place she's wanted to visit for a long time, and was glad she could come before her husband's presidency ended.

Bush headed inside the house of one of her favorite authors to get a glimpse of where the writing magic happened for Wilder.

"I love her books, my mother read them to me when I was little before I could read and I grew up with them," Bush said.

The first lady said, as a teacher, she read the books to her class, and as a mother, to her daughters Barbara and Jenna.

"They are all very important classics for American children and tell them what life was like on American frontier," Bush said.

Bush brought good news for those wanting to see long range plans at the historic house happen.

"I am so very happy to present this to you. It says Laura Ingalls Wilder House and Museum are now an official Save America's Treasures Project. Next we want to get Save America's Treasures grant," Bush said.

House and museum director Jean Corday says the announcement means a lot for the future of the house.

"Now we're ready to start realizing a dream and fulfilling a long range plan," Corday said.

The long range plan that will cost more than $10 million to complete, but Save America's Treasures can help.

"I think how pleased she'd be if she knew and she always called them her little books, and I don't think she even realized what it would become," Corday said.

It’s a legacy that even the first lady wants to be a part of.

Part of the long range plans for the land around Wilder's house include rebuilding the barn and taking down anything on the property that wasn't originally there.