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(4)
4-6
Oregon Trail series.
Readers play the role of pioneers attempting to travel the Oregon Trail in this choose-your-own-adventure narrative. The interactive format and throwback-style graphics evoking the classic Oregon Trail computer game should attract young readers. However, the series glosses over the negative impacts of westward expansion on American Indians; if used in the classroom, pair with more thorough resources on the topic. There are three other books in this series.
(3)
4-6
In the sequel to A Nest for Celeste, the eponymous mouse falls asleep in a wagon near her New Orleans home and ends up on another adventure. Celeste rides a steamboat, climbs trees with squirrels, swims with beavers, and helps a young Abe Lincoln. The accessible animal fantasy's comforting theme--that home is wherever you find happiness--is complemented by Cole's cozy pencil illustrations.
(4)
4-6
Survivors series.
With their father injured, a broken wagon axle, and limited resources, Will and his sister must travel alone through perilous Death Valley to search for help to save their stranded family. Like other historical Survivors installments, the book is formulaic, but Duey and Bale provide a tense, gritty portrayal of the 1849 westward journeys on which small mistakes could be fatal.
48 pp.
| Dial
| February, 2014
|
TradeISBN 978-0-8037-3775-4$17.99
(3)
4-6
Illustrated by
Larry Day.
One-page free-verse monologues describe perilous conditions, experiences (a wedding, a birth, several deaths), and a persevering determination to soldier on. Pen-and-ink and earth-toned watercolor illustrations offer a personalized view of the era, while the first-person accounts provide a glimpse into the hardships and joy of the journey from multiple perspectives, pioneer and Native American. Historical notes are appended. Reading list.
32 pp.
| Whitman
| September, 2011
|
TradeISBN 978-0-8075-8612-9$16.99
(4)
K-3
Illustrated by
Lynne Avril.
Two fictional girls who must move west to Oregon--Jenny, from 1846, whose family faces great hardship, and Katie, from today, whose biggest challenge is an annoying brother--present their experiences side by side, in a nifty comics-style format. The initially revelatory aspect of the book fizzles out somewhere on the Oregon Trail: like Jenny's move, this book takes ages.
32 pp.
| Philomel
| February, 2011
|
TradeISBN 978-0-399-25237-2$16.99
(2)
PS
Little fox Lucy wants to play with her new wagon. Her mother wants her to go on an errand instead, so Lucy and her friends take the wagon with them to the market. It's no ordinary trip: the pals imagine sailing on the high seas and crossing the great frontier, among other adventures. Liwska's soft-hued pencil illustrations imaginatively enhance the straightforward text.
Reviewer: Cynthia K. Ritter
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
January, 2011
48 pp.
| Millbrook
| February, 2009
|
LibraryISBN 978-0-8225-7892-5$25.26
(3)
K-3
On My Own History series.
Illustrated by
Craig Orback.
In 1844–45, seventeen-year-old Moses Schallenberger heads west to California with a wagon train but ends up spending a long, brutal winter alone in the mountains. Independent readers will find this simply told story of survival riveting. An afterword provides more information about Moses's life after his rescue. Orback's serviceable illustrations help break up the sections of text. Reading list, websites. Bib.
172 pp.
| Dutton
| April, 2008
|
TradeISBN 978-0-525-47936-9$15.99
(4)
1-3
Hoofbeats series.
Margret and her sister have been orphans for years, working their way west with the wagon trains of the 1870s. Margret must convince her sister that they have found a place to call home with a widow and a mysterious horse that Margret loves. While it's a pleasant read, the story verges on oversentimental.
40 pp.
| Farrar/Kroupa
| April, 2008
|
TradeISBN 978-0-374-38223-0$16.95
(4)
K-3
Illustrated by
Stacey Dressen-McQueen.
"We're going to see the Elephant...That's what people say when they head west." As her family travels to California, Lily Rose keeps alert for a pachyderm and helps her grandmother sew quilt squares. The joke goes on too long and the down-home dialogue can be grating, but the folk-style illustrations incorporating stitches and traditional quilt motifs nicely reflect the family's experiences. Reading list. Bib.
32 pp.
| Simon
| May, 2008
|
TradeISBN 978-1-4169-3983-2$16.99
(4)
K-3
On Saturday, a boy finds his dad's old Radio Flyer wagon. He gets an idea on Sunday, and on Monday he's motivated, Tuesday he's tinkering, and by Friday, with a little help from Dad, he's flying. Close-up double-page-spread oil paintings offer several vantage points, some effective, some off-kilter, to bolster the rather forgettable text.
32 pp.
| Cavendish
| September, 2002
|
TradeISBN 0-7614-5108-0$$16.95
(4)
K-3
Illustrated by
Craig Spearing.
This is a fictional account of a real event in 1777. A farmer selling his goods in Philadelphia ends up hiding a "giant bell" beneath the hay in his wagon to prevent the British from finding it and melting it into shot. The engaging tale is told in somewhat jerky verse in which "the great big wagon" is a frequent refrain. The book features fine harvest-toned images outlined in black that suggest woodcuts.
32 pp.
| Holiday
| September, 2000
|
TradeISBN 0-8234-1475-2$$16.95
(3)
K-3
Illustrated by
Bill Farnsworth.
In clear prose, Ammon describes how Conestoga wagons were built, driven, and used in early America. Farnsworth's paintings and line drawings accurately depict the technology as well as the rough terrain of the time. Children fascinated with trucks and trains will enjoy this book about the Conestogas, the trucks of their day. Bib.
183 pp.
| September, 1998
|
TradeISBN 0-671-01551-6$$9.00
(4)
4-6
American Sisters series.
1912 traces the journey of two young sisters from their native Sweden to America on the Titanic; 1852 chronicles the wagon train trek of a young girl and her large family as they head west to Oregon. While author's notes explain that the stories are based on real people, the journal entries interspersed throughout 1852 are only noted as taken from an original source in small print on the CIP page, which may lead to confusion as to what is fiction and what isn't. Bib.