Pappy's Handkerchief

Pappy's Handkerchief

Written by: Devin Scillian
Illustrated by: Chris Ellison

"Young Moses and his family are barely scraping by. He helps his father in their fish stall selling each day’s catch to passersby but times are hard in 1889 Baltimore. It’s difficult to provide for a family of ten. But when they hear of free farmland out in Oklahoma, it sounds like the answer to their prayers. The family sells all they own and heads west to fulfill a lifelong dream.

Their wagon journey, however, is plagued with troubles from ice storms and flooded rivers to diminishing supplies and sickness. Yet Moses and his family persevere. They arrive in time to take a place along the boundary line that marks the staging point for the Oklahoma Land Run. But after making it this far, will even more bad luck prevent them from realizing their dream of owning their own piece of America?"

Product Description

Online Resources:
*scroll down the page to find "Pappy's Handkerchief" pdf doc - titles in alpha order*
http://www.sleepingbearpress.com/educators/

Sarah Plain and Tall

Sarah Plain and Tall

Written by: Patricia MacLachlan

"Set in the late 19th century a widowed midwestern farmer with two children--Anna and Caleb--advertises for a wife. When Sarah arrives she is homesick for Maine, especially for the ocean which she misses greatly. The children fear that she will not stay, and when she goes off to town alone, young Caleb--whose mother died during childbirth--is stricken with the fear that she has gone for good. But she returns with colored pencils to illustrate for them the beauty of Maine, and to explain that, though she misses her home, "the truth of it is I would miss you more." The tale gently explores themes of abandonment, loss and love."

Amazon.com Review

Online Resources:
http://www.mce.k12tn.net/reading3/sarah.htm

Words West: The Voices of Young Pioneers

Words West: The Voices of Young Pioneers

Written by: Ginger Wadsworth

"This book records the thoughts and feelings of the pioneer children who traveled west between 1830 and 1870 in wagon trains. They often encountered severe heat and extreme cold, hostile Indians, the death of friends and family, terrible illnesses, and great hunger. They also witnessed the beauty of the untouched West. The letters , diaries, and memoirs of these children and young people quoted in this book tell their stories in their own words. They are accompanied by archival photographs and prints. Together the stories and pictures help today's children and young people understand their counterparts from another era. A great primary source for those studying the pioneer period of history."

Product Description

Online Resources:
http://www.gingerwadsworth.com/
*Scroll to bottom of page for additional links

The Tragic Tale of Narcissa Whitman and a Faithful History of the Oregon Trail

The Tragic Tale of Narcissa Whitman and a Faithful History of the Oregon Trail

Written by: Cheryl Harness

"When she was a young girl, Narcissa loved nothing better than to read heroic tales about brave men and women risking their lives to bring Christian ideas to "barbarians" in far-off places. In 1831, her dream of doing the same was about to come true. That's when some Indians arrived in St. Louis, Missouri, looking for the "White Man's Book of Heaven." Their quest was the answer to Narcissa's prayers: She would bring salvation to "those wandering sons of our native forests. "

Narcissa married Marcus Whitman, another missionary want-to-be, and they headed West. She spent her honeymoon riding side-saddle some 2,000 miles across the vast, often perilous trail to Oregon Country—something no other white woman had ever done. Then she and Marcus lived happily ever after singing hymns and teaching the Indians about the Bible, right? Wrong! Readers will find out what really happened when East met West at the end of the real-life, legendary Oregon Trail."

Product Description

Online Resources:
http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/s_z/whitman.htm
http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/two/whitman0.htm

If You Traveled West in a Covered Wagon

If You Traveled West in a Covered Wagon

Written by: Ellen Levine

"If you were traveling West in a covered wagon, you would have a lot of questions, including where you were going, how you would get there, and what you would take with you. You would wonder what would happen along the way, what you would do, and who and what you would see. Using a conversational tone and a question-and-answer format, the author draws readers into the preparations for the long trip to the Oregon Territory in the 1840's and ‘50's by answering these and many other practical questions in an honest and informational way. The information given, from start to finish, is very useful and descriptive and is presented in an age-appropriate manner. While the book itself is well written and thorough, it does have one small drawback. The book states that it is the new and updated version. It is larger and the illustrations are in full color, which is much more engaging. Unfortunately, it lacks a further reading page or a resource page including places to visit or web sites to explore. Overall, though, this a great resource book that children will enjoy and gain much from."

Children's Literature Review

Online Resources:
http://www.daily-tangents.com/BOB/BookLink/M/M_wagon.shtml

The Birchbark House

The Birchbark House

Written by: Louise Erdrich

"Nineteenth-century American pioneer life was introduced to thousands of young readers by Laura Ingalls Wilder's beloved Little House books. With The Birchbark House, award-winning author Louise Erdrich's first novel for young readers, this same slice of history is seen through the eyes of the spirited, 7-year-old Ojibwa girl Omakayas, or Little Frog, so named because her first step was a hop. The sole survivor of a smallpox epidemic on Spirit Island, Omakayas, then only a baby girl, was rescued by a fearless woman named Tallow and welcomed into an Ojibwa family on Lake Superior's Madeline Island, the Island of the Golden-Breasted Woodpecker. We follow Omakayas and her adopted family through a cycle of four seasons in 1847, including the winter, when a historically documented outbreak of smallpox overtook the island.

Readers will be riveted by the daily life of this Native American family, in which tanning moose hides, picking berries, and scaring crows from the cornfield are as commonplace as encounters with bear cubs and fireside ghost stories. Erdrich--a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwa--spoke to Ojibwa elders about the spirit and significance of Madeline Island, read letters from travelers, and even spent time with her own children on the island, observing their reactions to woods, stones, crayfish, bear, and deer. The author's softly hewn pencil drawings infuse life and authenticity to her poetic, exquisitely wrought narrative. Omakayas is an intense, strong, likable character to whom young readers will fully relate--from her mixed emotions about her siblings, to her discovery of her unique talents, to her devotion to her pet crow Andeg, to her budding understanding of death, life, and her role in the natural world."

Amazon.com Review

Web Resources:
http://www.carolhurst.com/titles/birchbarkhouse.html
http://www.trumpetclub.com/intermediate/activities/birchbark_house.htm

Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie: The Oregon Trail Diary of Hattie Campbell, 1847

Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie: The Oregon Trail Diary of Hattie Campbell, 1847

Written by: Kristiana Gregory

"Thirteen-year-old Hattie Campbell records the details of her family's harrowing migration to Oregon in a covered wagon and describes the many challenges, both joyful and tragic, that mark the journey."

Publishers Description

Online Resources:
http://www.scholastic.com/dearamerica/parentteacher/guides/dearamerica/lonesomefs.htm

My Prairie Year: Based on the Diary of Elenore Plaisted

My Prairie Year: Based on the Diary of Elenore Plaisted

Written by: Brett Harvey
Illustrated by: Deborah Ray Kogan

"Elenore Plaisted was nine in 1889, when her family moved from Maine to the Dakotas. Later on, she wrote a retrospective diary of those years, which her granddaughter has now shaped into a story about a family's first year on the prairie. The first night in their new home they had to put blankets on the walls to block the wind. Storms came up quickly. Even a child used to Maine winters found the prairie blizzards intolerable. Spring finally came, seemingly hurried along by the arrival of a surprise package from Aunt Addie back home. Ray's black-and-white pencil illustrations would be almost too somber for the vivid text, were it not for the realistic, snug details a wooden bucket for washing floors, a child's blanket, the cylindrical stove in the center of their home. Young readers may whet their appetites here and go on to the Laura Ingalls Wilder series."

Publishers Weekly Review

Online Resources:
http://www.atozteacherstuff.com/Themes/Pioneers/