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Favorite Lewis & Clark books?


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We will be studying the Lewis and Clark expedition in a few weeks. I am overwhelmed with the amount of highly recommended books on Lewis & Clark, Sacagawea, and Tecumseh. Can you tell me what your favorites were? I have a dd9 and ds7. We'll be taking some time with this, so I'm looking for a read aloud as well as independent readers for the kids. DD reads at a very advanced level; ds7 is pretty much at grade level. He reads Magic Tree house type stuff. TIA!

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My dd really enjoyed reading Seaman, by Gail Langer Karwoski. It's a fictional history from their dog's point of view. This one would make a great read aloud.

 

Another one for my younger kids was How We Crossed the West, by Rosalyn Schanzer. It's a picture book that reads like journal entries.

 

We also have the documentary Lewis and Clark, The Journey of the Corps of Discovery from the library. It's made by PBS/Ken Burns.

 

Did your kids see the Ken Burns movie yet? Did they enjoy it? I wasn't sure if it was "kid friendly". My dc enjoy many documentaries, but we haven't done any of the KB's yet.

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Guest Alte Veste Academy

The Lewis and Clark Expedition by Richard Neuberger is an old Landmark book that is an exceptional retelling of the adventure. I loved it! I think this is a can't miss for your dc's ages. (If you have sensitive children, I would not read the last chapter. It tells what happens to everyone from the expedition later in their lives. At this age, I don't want to let the kids know about Lewis, as he commits suicide after a few years.)

 

You definitely need a Seaman book. I liked ours, Lewis and Clark and Me: A Dog's Tale by Laurie Clark. They all seem to get good reviews though. Apparently you can't go wrong with the Seaman books.

 

I have yet to find a Sacajawea book I'm in love with. The closest I've come is Sacajawea Speaks. I'll be watching this thread with interest.

 

Oh, and I also bought Plants on the Trail with Lewis and Clark and Animals on the Trail with Lewis and Clark. I would not recommend buying them (personally found them a bit dry but it's a cool concept--you could check your library). Why she couldn't combine the books, I don't know...irritating, actually. Anyway, it got me on the thought to relate L&C to nature study. When something new (plant, animal, river, etc.) is mentioned as being discovered in the expedition, we look into it. Look at the rivers and mountains on a map, get a library book on beavers or prairie dogs, look at our North American Wildlife book for the plants as mentioned...).

Edited by Alte Veste Academy
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Did your kids see the Ken Burns movie yet? Did they enjoy it? I wasn't sure if it was "kid friendly". My dc enjoy many documentaries, but we haven't done any of the KB's yet.

 

We've watched the first tape so far, it's a two vhs set. So far, we do like it. It really pulls you into the story and keeps you interested. It couldn't hold my first grader still for too long, but he did stay in the room listening for most of it. :001_smile:

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The Lewis and Clark Expedition by Richard Neuberger is an old Landmark book that is an exceptional retelling of the adventure. I loved it! I think this is a can't miss for your dc's ages. (If you have sensitive children, I would not read the last chapter. It tells what happens to everyone from the expedition later in their lives. At this age, I don't want to let the kid's know about Lewis, as he commits suicide after a few years.)

 

 

Ooh! I forgot about this. We read it, too. I highly recommend it!

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I haven't posted here in ages, but we *just* finished reading Of Courage Undaunted: Across the Continent with Lewis and Clark and it was excellent. My dd is just about to turn 8 - it was a read-aloud, definitely too advanced for her to read herself, and I'm sure some bits of it went over her head, but she retained and understood a lot, and we both really enjoyed it. I can't recall the author off-hand, but we bought ours through Living Books Currliculum; it's part of their 3rd grade package.

 

HTH,

Melissa(off to check out the Ken Burns doc, now. :) )

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Did your kids see the Ken Burns movie yet? Did they enjoy it? I wasn't sure if it was "kid friendly". My dc enjoy many documentaries, but we haven't done any of the KB's yet.

 

We're in the middle of this now. IT's two disks. After 45 minutes of the first disk, ds begged to be let off the hook. I sat and watched with him for about half of this time. I found it interesting but I can see how mind-numbingly boring it would be to a 10-year-old boy. It's going back to Netflix in the morning. I'll have to find some other video for my very visual learner.

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For movies, we love Lewis & Clark: Great Journey West, the National Geo movie that used to be in Omnitheaters. It's very kid-appealing.

 

My husband & I listened to Of Courage on audiobook, so you might consider that. It would be too much Lewis & Clark even for my 8th grader, but every kid is different.

 

Your library may have one of L&C's actual journals/maps. I think the originals are fascinating to at least take a peek at.

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