Children of the Wild West

I loved this book! Children of the Wild West gives a historical account of the lives of children in the late 1800s on the frontier. By featuring great pictures, maps, and personal accounts of the mundane and special parts of life such as work, play, Native Americans, farming, town life and more, the author captures the spirit of the Wild West. It will give students of all ages a thorough and accurate history of the era and encourage them to pursue more information about the time.

This book attempts to share what live in the "wild west"--western America in the 19th Century--was like in words and photographs. (Nice photographs. The photos are the book's strongest feature.) It's an interesting volume, though I found the text rather lacking. It pulls in some anecdotes and gives some descriptions, but it never really grabbed my interest in the way a good story would have done. I think that a few years ago I might have rated this book higher, but now it just seems to me to be good waiting room material. That's the curse of Sonlight Curriculum at work.
--J.

This book is full of astounding pictures and a wealth of knowledge about children of the wild west. The pictures and personal accounts are amazing reminders of our past. I myself learned so much while reading.

Russell Freedman portrays the Children of the Wild West in a way that most people have not seen or even thought of before. The photographs he includes captures the hearts of readers & the stories told allows readers to understand better who the children really were. Great book!

This book is highly informative and offers many photographs of children during the time period. It is rare to have photographs from this time period, so this is a fun book to look through. The authors note: "Photography was a new invention... The first cameras could not capture motion [so[ people being photographed had to stand or sit absolutely still" (p. 9-10). Lengthy informative pieces of children's experiences during the travel westward, including information from American Indian villages and a look into frontier classrooms.

This book is about how children used to live in the past Wild West such as riding in covered wagons. It is great for the classroom because it can inform children about US history. Grade levels for this book include 6-8.

What did children of pioneer families experience as they traveled west in a wagon train? What were their lives like as their families settled on the frontier? What about Indian boys and girls of the day? Here is an unforgettable visit with American young people of the nineteenth century American West.