Customer Reviews:
RECIPE FOR PIONEER SURVIVAL.......2007-08-18
Families needed goodly amounts of common sense, courage and religious faith in order to endure the ordeal of the covered wagon journey to Oregon and/or California--regardless of the route chosen. The Todd family of Arkansas proved flexible and resourceful during the six-month
test of physical and moral endurance in 1852--the year of the terrible cholera epidemic. Based on the diaries of adults and grown children of the Oregon Trail this book faithfully reproduces the challenges and dangers suffered by those seeking new lives in the Pacific northwest.
The oldest of three girls, Mary Ellen is just 9 at the start of the story, but she comes of age by the end when she finally just crack Father's whip. Thought the family hardships she admires her father's quiet strength and dignity, as well as the resroucefulness of her step-mother. It is in times of trial that different family members step go the extra mile, taking their turn to ensure the survival of the group. Despite the hardships Mary Ellen still takes the time to admire the beauties of the Natural landscape. While her body is busy with daily tasks, her heart cherishes fond memories of her Grandmother, whom she realizes she will never see again. But this dear relative's face and words inspire Mary Ellen to discover personal courage in a barren wilderness. The accompanying map at the beginning of the book clarifies the geographic details of the long journey. Excellent westward migration reading for middle-school students.
arrsteph - My Review for Academy Extra Credit.......2006-12-05
Bound for Oregon is the story of Mary Ellen Todd and her journey with her family along the Oregon Trail. Although this book was interesting in the first chapter, I think the author got a little carried away with the monotonus context of the book. All in all, it is a good book if you want to know more about this era in history and the Oregon Trail.
Claire's review.......2006-10-02
I loved this book. I disagree with the people who said that the book droned on and on. In this book an 8 year old girl and her family set out on a 6 month journey to Oregon. On the way they face many hardships, the death and parting with friends and loved ones and several Indian attacks. But there are many exciting moments, and moments of fun, including popping popcorn in the rain. I RECOMMEND this book to everyone.
Bound for Oregon: Dull and Long.......2004-05-05
Bound for Oregon by Jean Van Leeuwen, was a book about a 9-year old girl about her journey through the Oregon Trail. It starts out in Arkansas(which was a little odd because most people traveled around Arkansas because all they saw at first was swamps)at their home. She talks about how they moved to Arkansas because of all the illness that was going around. After a while, I lost interest in this book because it was so boring. It stopped having any adventure and got very monotonous.
The setting was in Arkansas sat first and then all the way along the Oregon Trail. I recommend this book to no one.
Leaving Arkansas.......2004-05-05
This book was alittle more interesting because of the fact that they were leaving Arkansas.(this is were I live) As they leave many people turn back, because they are scared. With the four remaining they go on. With conflict the four splint into 2 groups. A story element for this book would be conflict because of the difference of opinion. GOOD BOOK!
Average customer rating:
- Brings yesterday into focus for today's girl
- The Pioneer Cat-Chapter 3
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Pioneer Cat (Stepping Stone, paper)
William H. Hooks
Manufacturer: Random House Books for Young Readers
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ASIN: 039482038X
Release Date: 1988-10-12 |
Book Description
Nine-year-old Kate Purdy is traveling from Missouri to Oregon by wagon train, and she’s worried about Snuggs—the pretty little cat who took a shine to her and decided to come along for the ride even though there are no pets allowed on the wagon train. No matter what happens, Snuggs the cat has to stay a secret!
“An action-packed, highly readable tale.”—Publishers Weekly
William H. Hooks has written over 40 other books for children, including The Legend of the Christmas Rose and The Mighty Sante Fe.
Customer Reviews:
Brings yesterday into focus for today's girl.......2000-07-26
My 7 yr. old advanced reader found this book not only reasonable to read, but it held her excitement at wanting to know what would happen to each of the characters as the wagon train progressed on its journey and met real dangers. It was not too scary, but filled with the concerns of real life in the pioneer days. The story developed the unfolding of a girlhood friendship in such a way as to show a young reader ways to ease into a relationship. It was a delight to read with a child and educational in many ways.
The Pioneer Cat-Chapter 3.......2000-02-03
I really enjoyed this story. I really liked it when her family felt sorry for her and let her have that cat. It's about a little girl on her way to Missouri with her family, Ma, Pa, Kate, Benjy, Duffy, and Doris.
Book Description
It is 1848 when Joshua McCullough and his family leave their home in St. Joseph, Missouri, and set off for Oregon on a wagon train. During their seven-month-long journey, many of the other families on the trail suffer devastating losses, but Joshua's is spared. However, Joshua must conquer his fear of water during the many river crossings the wagon train must make. During one dramatic crossing, Joshua heroically dives into a rushing river to save his younger sister Becky. The battered wagon train reaches Oregon after traveling over two thousand miles.
Customer Reviews:
Ok but Bewidering Edition of Dear America.......2006-01-16
I think my students will like this book and find it interesting but I am bewildered at the willingness of the author in adding gruesome episodes with little explanation. I find short passages that mention a gruesome death or injury and just go on to the next page. My main interest in using this book is for ESOL students whose reading levels are low but need American history lessons. This book fits the bill in history and reading level but I wonder if the book could have been written with a more comfortable fit. Students are going to end up with many more questions than a feeling of clarity. I will have to try to make that up.
Okay but not great.......2004-05-07
This book is about a young boy traveling the Oregon Trail back in the day. He has many hardships and has to deal with lots of problems. They have to deal with death, sickness, and many wagon problems. The diary tells of how he feels and really shows his true side.
Home here we come!!.......2004-05-05
I thought Westward to Home was an okay book. It was about a boy named Joshua and his family moving to Oregon. At the beginning of the book Joshua's grandfather didnt want to go to Oregon with his family. He thought it would be hard for him to leave his wife's grave. He eventually decided to go to Oregon with his family. Joshua was excited. Joshua's grandfather surprises his whole family with something he does on the trail. This book is best for boys. They can connect with how he feels and what he goes through.
traveling along.......2004-05-05
This book brings you back to 1848. It shows you the hardships people had to face as they struggled to Oregon. Loved ones, live stock, and whole families were lost forever. As Joshua struggles to Oregon with his family he meets new people, forms new friendships, and meets up with unexpected love ones. As Joshua gets ready to leave Independence, MO. His beloved grandfather changes his mind and decides to come with Joshua and his family. As they go along Joshua's grandfather meets a young lady and marries her, this is a big shock to everyone. Joshua overcomes his fear of water and finds the courage to go on.
Nature Loves to Hide.......2002-03-29
Patricia Hermes' account of this dangerous exploration needs quiet time to listen. The young boy's relationship with his grandfather becomes my chief reason for buying and recommending this book to grandparents who often care for children's needs more diligently than birth parents.
The author manifests a unique sense of humor when she creates the name for "ME-TOO". Capturing the surf and the breeze the story, WESTWARD TO HOME renders the journey as nature's spiritual turf. Mary Kelly,Toms River, NJ.
Book Description
The epic journey of the Sager children by covered wagon from Missouri to Oregon in 1848.
Customer Reviews:
great from start to end.......2005-04-22
This is a great book about a boy and his family who traveled through the Oregon trail, but his dad and mom die of dysentery. After that he has to lead the children along the snake river . It's nothing but exciting.
On to Oregon.......2002-01-12
Have you ever wondered what really happend on the Oregon Trail? If you are one of those people, then you should read this book. Captain John Sager leads his family on the Oregon Trail to Oregon, but he uncovers dangers with his family, and with the Native Americans. This book has the same type of action to it as "Stones in Water" and another book I read "April Morning". I think that most of the story was factual, and part of it was opinion from the author. I was brought into the main and strongly supporting details, but some of the weak detail wasn't really needed or wasn't that interesting. This is how the story begins. "This is a story of a great pioneer. Aww. I know what you're already thinking. You think that this book is just a biography about somebody. But you are wrong. This is a much better book than those long and boring biographies, but you will still learn a lot about history.
John Sager is the leader of his family on the way to Oregon. He is going to occur mountain crossings and the decisions about crossing rivers and what to do about his sick family. He does a lot of things like his best friend, famous frontiersman, Kit Carson, likes killing deer and other animals to have for lunch.
On To Oregon.......2000-01-10
This a very exciting story that really shows the hard ships of life on the frontier. If you like books about the west, settlement of America, or about struggle and making your dreams happen, this is the book for you. I read this book as an assignment for school and I think it's great for kids around junior high age. The book is set in the 1800's during the settlement of America out west. It is about the 9 member Sager family who are going to Willamette, Oregon. On the way the father and mother die leaving John, the 13 year old son, to take the large family to carry out their father's dreams of starting a one thousand acre farm in Willamette.
Exciting tale but negative stereotypes of Native Americans.......1999-08-13
Our family (with 4 kids) listened to this on tape as we drove through Idaho and Oregon, basically following the Oregon Trail. This book, more than anything else including museums, helped the kids understand the difficulties and dangers of the journey. They (and we their parents) loved it. However there are very negative stereotypes of Native Americans throughout the story which are unacceptable and require discussion.
The Oregon Trail!.......1999-01-05
I read this book for a book report and my teacher loved it so much she read it to the class! It is a great book that tells about the life of a young boy on his dangerous and thrilling journey on the Oregon Trail! READ THIS BOOK!
Book Description
Based on a true story originally written by one of the survivors, Neta Lohnes Frazier’s account of seven children traveling westward still has the power to astonish. In the 1840s, the Sager family set off on the Oregon Trail, a dangerous and adventure-filled journey. Tragedy struck when both the mother and father succumbed to fever, orphaning the youngsters—one just a newborn. The entire wagon train adopted them, until they arrived at the Whitman Mission in Oregon. There, the Sagers settled into an ordinary life…until the day of an Indian massacre. The bravery of the Stouthearted Seven will amaze today’s young readers.
Book Description
WOMEN'S VOICES FROM THE OREGON TRAIL narrates the lives and evokes the voices of the women who traveled the 2,000 mile trail to Oregon 150 years ago. The book artfully blends women's diaries, songs, history, poetry, recipes, and quilts. Susan Butruille first takes us to the Midwestern farms where most of the women came from, then on their brave and outlandish trek, and finally to the strange and bountiful land where a new home was supposed to be.
Customer Reviews:
Emotionally Written, Wonderful Book.......2003-11-24
Susan Butruille has captured the feeling behind the women's hard covered exterior on the Oregon Trail. This book touched me deeplyin the way that I cried during reading of the book and thought about the book many times after reading it. I read this book in two days and since then have visioned it while living my life here in 2002. I have felt so much for the reallife women of the diaries in this book that I talked about it with my husband and simple things that used to get him or me in a tizzy before I read this book now seem so trivial and unimportant. I think that this book changed my life, the way I look at life in a way that I appreciate way more than I did before I read this book and think much about how wagon women would solve a problem that I have daily and if they would have had that problem (via computers or toasters) at all because everything was so much more primitive, necessary and simple YET hard and trying and exhausting back then.
In two words I have for anyone thinking about buying this book is PLEASE DO ..... it will enrich your life. It did Mine.
Emotionally written. Wonderful book........2002-09-18
Susan Butruille has captured the feeling behind the women's hard covered exterior on the Oregon Trail. This book touched me deeplyin the way that I cried during reading of the book and thought about the book many times after reading it. I read this book in two days and since then have visioned it while living my life here in 2002. I have felt so much for the reallife women of the diaries in this book that I talked about it with my husband and simple things that used to get him or me in a tizzy before I read this book now seem so trivial and unimportant. I think that this book changed my life, the way I look at life in a way that I appreciate way more than I did before I read this book and think much about how wagon women would solve a problem that I have daily and if they would have had that problem (via computers or toasters) at all because everything was so much more primitive, necessary and simple YET hard and trying and exhausting back then.
In two words I have for anyone thinking about buying this book is PLEASE DO ..... it will enrich your life. It did Mine.
Wonderful.......2001-02-16
This is a poignant and moving book. It is well constructed. It addresses the daily activities, as well as the overall significance, of women on the Oregon Trail. The book weaves together (and is centered around) excerpts from diaries and other first hand writings. Hearing the stories from those who experienced the journey was an emotional and educational treat.
Interesting women's history.......2000-06-14
If you are interested in the day to day lives of women as they walked the Oregon Trail, you'll enjoy this book.
Customer Reviews:
Loved it!!!.......2007-04-16
I would recommend this book to everyone.
It all started when Hattie's Uncle fell off the roof and died. When his coffen was in the wagon, it fell off into the river. Pa jumped in and tried to save it, but a steamboat came and sucked the coffin under. The captin of the steam boat felt sorry, so he said he would give Pa and the family a free ride anywhere. Pa gathered up all their belongings and headed to Oregan. Hattie and her family went through so much when traveling to oregan. Her friends died, oxen and mules died. Mrs. Kenker stole when folks weren't looking. Mrs. Biggs drowns; Mr. Kenker killed himself by jumping into the river; some boys died of poiesining, etc. In the latter part of the journey all their oxen died, therefore they had to leave all the belongings and walk the rest of the way.
Not as Good as I Expected.......2006-06-01
This book is okay - not good, and definately not perfect. Hattie is SUCH a stereotype of "headstrong, unladylike, has a well-behaved best friend" that I've seen way too many times. The action is not as good as in the Oregon Trail game, and Hattie's family is pretty stereotypical too. Still read, it's not truly terrible...
A delightfully wonderful account of crossing the Oregon Trail.......2006-03-26
I was simply looking for some day-to-day detail about emigrants crossing the Oregon Trail when I stumbled across this book. A quick read left me loving Hattie Campbell and her compelling story. It made me fully understand the hardships, heart aches, joys and successes of the Campbell family's journey. Loved it!
Across the Wide and Lonesome Prarie.......2006-02-03
I am a 6th grader from Cornwall New York. The book I read was Across the Wide and Lonesome Prarie by Kristina Gregory. This book is mainly about a girl named Hattie Campbell starting a new life in Oregon recording everything that happens. During the book Hattie goes through major struggles to get to Oregon.Some struggles Hattie goes through is going through huge dry deserts and long fierce rivers. During these journeys Hattie's friends and family pass away. For Hattie and many others this is very emotional. The whole book they are going through diffrent challenges. One of my favorite parts is when they go through the biggest rivers during a storm and the indians chasing them.I think many people would enjoy the part when they travel through the mountains. This story never stops with the action.The problems just keeps on a going and going. I think anyone who reads this book will love it. I would definetly recomend this book to anyone. If you are looking for a great book I suggest you read this amazing book. If you feel this book does not fit your style than try one of the other Dear America books in the collection.
Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie.......2006-02-01
Cornwall, New York, 6th grader. The book Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie was about a girl named Hattie leaving Missouri to start a new life in Oregon with her family. During this journey Hattie goes through many struggles. I thought this was a good book because they were always having a new adventure. During the book they also had to cross rivers go and through dry deserts. I would recommend this book to someone that likes adventure. One of my favorite parts was when they had to go through the first river. Overall this was a good book.
Book Description
It is 1848 when Joshua McCullough and his family leave their home in St. Joseph, Missouri, and set off for Oregon on a wagon train. Though many of the other families on the trail suffer devastating losses during their long journey, Joshua's is spared. However, Joshua must conquer his fear of water during one dramatic crossing, when he heroically dives into a rushing river to save his younger sister Becky. The battered wagon train finally reaches Oregon after traveling over two thousand miles.
Customer Reviews:
Historical Fiction Book Review.......2007-04-25
Westward to Home is a great book to read about. Joshua, the boy in the story, and his family are going to Oregon in a wagon train.
Joshua writes about everything that happens in his diary.
I liked the part where Joshua and his family were fording down a river. Then his little sister almost drowned, but Joshua saved her.
One day his Grandpa took Joshua hunting and he shot a male buffalo.
The leader of the wagon train was cousin Daniel, who had no toes on one foot because of a frost bite.
I learned some interesting facts. Life on the Oregon Trail was hard, because of the bad wheather, not enough food and people got sick.
The migration to Oregon was 159 years ago.
The Indians respected the military.
I also learned that the author of this book is Patricia Hermes.
I would recommend this book for three reasons.
First, it's an interesting story. Second, it's suspenseful to read.
Finally, it's good to know, how life was over 150 years ago. It makes me
appreciate how good life is today.
Westward to Home is a great book!
Jessica Stedman, 3rd. Grade, Glenmeade Elementary School, Chino Hills, CA.
You Think You Have Got It Hard.......2006-05-22
If you think you have it hard, wait until you read the book Westward to Home, Joshua's Oregon Trail Diary. Joshua has hard times all through the book. He tells you many things about his family, friends, and neighbors. This book gets sad in parts but gets better in other parts.
The book Westward to Home takes place in 1848. The people in the book are never really in one spot the whole time, but their journey should end up in Oregon. Will they make it?
I think people who like reading diaries would enjoy reading this book.
This book is the bomb!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.......2005-01-06
I'm in 3rd grade and I read Joshua's Oregon Trail Diary (book 1.) When I read it, I just fell in love with it! I suggest this book to anyone who likes adventure, excitement, and realistic historical fiction.
Joshua's Diary.......2004-12-20
The book Joshua's Diary is about a boy and his family who are traveling on the Oregon Trail. I enjoyed this book because it has so many wonderful details that make you feel as if you were with them. This is a very good book, but has very sad and frightening parts.
Review of Westward to Home.......2004-05-08
This is a story of a boy who is about to set out on the Oregon Trail. His grandpa gives him a journal to write about the journey westward, but instead his grandpa goes with him. It tells the story of a young boy traveling westward and the difficulties that take place. Many people die while they are on the Oregon Trail from illness and other things. It mostly takes place while they are on the Oregon Trail. I thought this was a pretty good story telling about the Oregon Trail.
Book Description
Apples, ho!
When Papa decides to pull up roots and move from Iowa to Oregon, he can't bear to leave his precious apple trees behind. Or his peaches, plums, grapes, cherries, and pears. Oh, and he takes his family along too. But the trail is cruel -- first there's a river to cross that's wider than Texas...and then there are hailstones as big as plums...and there's even a drought, sure to crisp the cherries. Those poor pippins! Luckily Delicious (the nonedible apple of Daddy's eye) is strong -- as young 'uns raised on apples are -- and won't let anything stop her father's darling saps from tasting the sweet Oregon soil.
Here's a hilarious tall tale -- from the team that brought you Fannie in the Kitchen -- that's loosely based on the life of a real fruiting pioneer.
Apple Facts
More than 7,500 varieties of apples are grown throughout the world.
About 2,500 varieties grow in the United States.
The apple variety
Delicious is the most widely grown in the United States.
Apples are part of the
rose family.
The science of fruit growing is called pomology.
Fresh apples
float. That's because
25 percent of their volume is air.
Cut an apple in half, across the core, and you'll see a
star shape.
It takes apple trees
four to five years to produce their first fruit.
It takes about
thirty-six apples to make
one gallon of apple cider.
Customer Reviews:
Perfect Blend of Words and Pictures.......2006-04-02
This story has so much going for it: delightful phrasing, conflict, humor, and a satisfying ending.
I love that the story is told from a child's perspective. "Delicious" truly saves the day. Isn't that the dream of every child? ;-)
The illustrations are the cherry on this story sundae. They're colorful, fun and engaging. Yum!
4½ A Delicous Version of How the West was Won.......2005-08-29
This is the vegan version of "Oregon Trail," an ancient computer game that was once -played on the Apple IIe, and featured "blam-blam" cheesy sounds as you gunned down moose, dear, and bear. Here, there's no fishing or hunting, but you follow the same trail past Chimney and Courthouse Rock, ford a river, climb the Rockies, and raft down the Columbia River to Oregon. Although I wondered the book violated any copyright laws, all resemblance to the "Oregon Trail" ends there.
Unlike the game, there's no dysentery, crooked traders, stampeding animals, or cranky settlers. Instead, a plucky family travels from Iowa to Oregon with a gigantic wagon holding a holding a whole orchard of fruit trees: Apples, plums, cherries, pears, and peaches. The book is more enjoyable than I expected, given its resemblance to the game, mostly because of the colorful girl, "Delicious," who narrates the story, and the sometimes silly obsession of her fruit-minded father. When "Delicious" (at least her father didn't name her "Gravenstein") alerts us "Daddy was ready for the most daring adventure in the history of fruit," you know you're in for a clever and exciting tall tale.
On the way to Oregon, the family encounters nasty skeptical fellow travelers, weather changes, and natural obstacles. They build a raft and start paddling the Platte River, the "muddy drink started to pull us down":
"'The peaches are plummeting!' my sisters shouted."
"'The plums are plunging,' boomed my brother."
"'Don't let my babies go belly-up!" howled Daddy.
Apparently, Daddy's has unbounded concern for the apples of his eye...and he also loves his kids. Delicious, who knows that children raised on apples are "mighty strong" (there's lots of "Western" dialect festooning these pages), gets her sibs to kick off their shoes and kick their feet against the Platte. Later, a windstorm strikes, half-denuding the family (sure to get some laughs from the younger set), and eliciting another cry from Daddy (always in big, bold font):
"Guard the grapes! Protect the peaches!"
The persistent, albeit slightly goofy Daddy, is shown on a great two-page spread resembling the Disneyland diorama of the Grand Canyon. The family is hauling the wagon up about a 50 degree incline, an impossible task, of course, while the unvanquished Daddy announces, "just a hundred miles to go." In one of many colorful illustrations, Delicious-looking more and more like a young pioneer woman, fights a wispy Jack Frost with a bonfire and a blanket. Very soon, "that low-down scoundrel was hightailing it out of there, heading straight for Walla, Washington. Delicious stands tall and proud. The illustrations slightly recall those of Patricia Polacco with their emphasis on people's faces and long exaggerated lines, although they're not quite as loopy and personal as Polacco's.
The books concludes with a successful orchard planting in Oregon, just as in the true story of the parents and their eight children who brought the first apple trees from Iowa to Oregon in 1847. Delicious, easily the most appealing and emotionally satisfying character in the book is last seen high up in an apple tree, munching away and pondering the Gold Rush that that began shortly after their trip. All those fruit trees, she says "made us richer than any prospector. We were happier, too. After all, apples taste a whole lot better than gold."
Being the review of a gal who likes her tall tales spunky.......2005-03-29
So I was doing my usual Thursday storytime (as is my librarianly duty) to a group of open-mouthed red-cheeked youngsters when I happened to ask if any of them knew what a tall tale was. You could have heard a pin drop. Now there were roughly ten or so children ranging in age from nine to toddlerhood and amongst these not a single child (that would admit it) knew that great family friendly and thoroughly American art of over exaggeration. I was sorely aggrieved but read from Anne Isaac's marvelous, "Swamp Angel" and felt much better in the end. Since that time, I have come to the conclusion that it is the duty of every good honest citizen of our fair Etas Unis that writes for children to make at least one tall taleish picture book in their lifetime. So far, there are plenty of writer/illustrators out there shirking their duties, but Deborah Hopkinson and Nancy Carpenter are not among them. Between the two of them they've concocted a rip-roaring, snorting, fit to be tied narrative based on true events and spun into utter silliness and fantasy. The result is the fun freewheeling, "Apples To Oregon", and after reading it your tots may well want to make the trip themselves.
Delicious and her daddy are two of a kind. They both love their beautiful Iowan fruit orchard. And they'd give everything they have to preserve and protect those awesomely tasty trees. So when Delicious's daddy decides that the family should pull up stakes and head for Oregon, it's only natural that the trees should come along with. Trouble is, it's hard enough to get a family the size of Delicious's across the plains (there are eight or so children), let alone finicky fruit bearers. But her daddy's determined, so off go Delicious, her mother, father, and seven siblings to make it to Oregon. Along the way they ford a mighty river using only their feet, battle a mighty windstorm, are saved of thirst by finding water filled boots, and finally engage in combat with the sneaky low down Jack Frost himself. By the end, Oregon has its trees and Delicious has a new home to settle in.
Hopkinson writes in an easygoing drawl that doesn't try too hard or rely on an abundance of silly cliches. And the various adventures visited upon the clan are silly but never too frightening or woeful. The fact that Delicious's father seems to care more for his trees than his children is a bit off-putting. And I can definitely see various children reading this story and getting ticked at his callousness. But if you take it for what it's worth, the rest of the reading is easy going. Hopkinson even includes in her Author's Note some information on the man this tale was loosely based on. It may certain interest adults to know that as a result of 1847's Henderson Luelling, Oregon remains one of the finest fruit producers in the continental United States.
As for illustrator Nancy Carpenter, she's given the pictures here a nice feel. You jump in sympathy as you see the poor kids leap through the sand without their boots (and you can't help but curse their lazy father who is not only booted but riding a horse... some Pop he is!). You cringe as Jack Frost's hand reaches to get past clever Delicious, ever watchful at her post. The pictures here are a sweet compliment to a nice story.
I don't know if I can say that this is the best tall tale book out there. But it is nice to see how the hero in this particular case is an entire family and not just one single striking individual. As I've noted, I've some problems with Delicious's father's misplaced loyalties, but otherwise this is a nice enough book and should make a fun storytime of its own. For anyone who's ever wanted to interest their very young offspring in the Oregon Trail, this might be a great way to spark interest at an early age.
Delicious!.......2004-08-21
I'm a second grade teacher and I love to use picture books in the classroom. What a find this is! With hilarious illustrations, it also covers all the bases -- apples, the Oregon trail, and a great story based (loosely) on real events, besides. I love the Apple Facts on the back cover. A great book!
Average customer rating:
- Respectable, educative of western emigration
|
Oregon Trail Stories: True Accounts of Life in a Covered Wagon
David Klausmeyer
Manufacturer: Two Dot
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Similar Items:
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Fantastic Facts about the Oregon Trail
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Surviving the Oregon Trail, 1852
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The Oregon Trail: An American Saga
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The Oregon Trail (Dover Value Editions)
ASIN: 076273082X |
Book Description
Travel along the Oregon Trail with the pioneers who dared to "face the elephant" as they moved west in search of a new life. Compiled from the trail diaries and memoirs that document this momentous period in American history, Oregon Trail Stories is a fascinating look at the great American migration of the 19th century.
Customer Reviews:
Respectable, educative of western emigration.......2004-04-22
I always enjoy reading personal accounts of the Oregon/California Trail. Taken from actual diaries, letters, memoirs and reminisces, these are true to life experiences from the pioneers themselves. A few to mention, without being overly exhaustive would be:
Catherine Sager Pringle and her six siblings becoming orphans of the trail when in the course of twenty six days both parents died. They were then taken to and raised at the Whitman Mission in Washington.
Lucy Jane Hall Burnett's account of taking the disastrous Stephen Meek Cutoff.
The insightful David Campbell reminisces traveling to California. After burying their dead, they would have the cattle trample over the ground to deter any Indian tendencies of digging them up for clothing. Also, numerous brief battles in California for statehood are well described.
Patrick Breen's day to day experiences of being stranded for months in the Sierra Nevada Mountains with the Donner Party are harrowing.
James Longmire's memoirs of traveling over the continent are both entertaining and perceptive.
Excellent.
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