Best read alouds for pioneer/frontier era of US history?

[Jayne J]

I am just about at the end of my rope seaching for a good, readable, living US history spine, so I am busily creating my own US history I lessons for next year. I've got tons and tons of read alouds for the early exploration and colonial eras, but I am having a hard time coming up with good pioneer/frontier stories. I have the Little House series, and Sarah Plain and Tall. I'd like several more, especially with boy protagonists (although if you know of one I must not miss, gender doesn't matter!) Old west, cowboys, gold rush, pioneers, Oregon trail, mountain men, whatever. (I am cutting off just before the Civil War, so war stories will have to wait til next year...)

 

:bigear:

 

ETA: My dc will be 8 and 6, but can listen to RA's above their level... Just no mature content please. LOL

[momto2Cs]

Check out A Book in Time. I love, love, love their site. They also have links to crafts, activities, etc. They recommend books by grade/age level, and there's usually a brief description of the book as well.

 

Paula's Archives is another great source for book lists. American history is listed just under world history.

[Edwena]

What about A Pioneer Sampler? The following is a description:

 

Combining fact and fiction effectively, this appealing book offers a window into the lives of pioneers. Greenwood offers fictional episodes about one family, the Robertsons, but between chapters about their adventures' there are sections giving background information about the period. For instance, in one story Meg goes to the general store to buy ribbons but decides to spend her money to help a neighbor who can't afford the postage due on a letter. The next few pages show what might be found at a village store; explain how to make a balance scale from yogurt containers and a coat hanger; discuss the post office and letter writing during pioneer days (including the information that the U.S. began using postage stamps in 1847); and give a recipe for homemade ink. Profusely illustrated with attractive pencil drawings, this book will prove a valuable resource for children studying the period.

[mom31257]

I pm'd you.

[NanceXToo]

Not sure if all of these are applicable but some that come to mind are:

 

Addy Across The Prairie

The Sign of the Beaver (male character)

Little House On The Prairie, which you said you have

maybe some stories about Buffalo Bill

Children of the Wild West

 

American Diaries has one about pioneer/frontier life, and so does the Dear America series, though those will both have female characters.

[meet me in paris]

A couple that come to mind:

 

By the Great Horn Spoon (gold rush story - boy protag. - excellent)

The Birchbark House (girl protag, Little House period from Native Am. perspective - one of my all time favorites)

The Great Turkey Walk (boy protag - very funny, 1860's trek from MO to CO)

[MamaJo]

Little Britches series

[momto2Cs]

I've also got an American History booklist going on my blog. It sn't completed yet, but I work on it here and there.

[stripe]

You know, I saw this from Elizabeth Foss:

 

http://ebeth.typepad.com/serendipity/us-history-geography.html

[Joyofsixreboot]

My kids have liked the Tucket series by Gary Paulsen. Not great literature but engaging with a boy separated from his wagon train a mountain man, Spanish settlers, gold and lots of other adventure. When the normal stuff left them cold this captured their imagination.

[walkermamaof4]

Have you checked the guesthollow lists?

[Jayne J]

A great big thank you to everyone who posted! I am busily bookmarking, printing, and loading up my Amazon cart.:001_smile: There are alot of good leads here!

Edited December 12, 2010 by urpedonmommy
subject verb agreement. :)

[Farrar]

The Ballad of Lucy Wipple by Karen Cushman. I love Karen Cushman.

 

I also recently read The Water Seeker by Kimberly Holt Willis. It's pretty new and was really good - but probably above their level. Not so much in terms of content, but in themes and plot. But I recommend it for older kids - more like 12+.

[Sasharowan]

Seven Alone by Honore Morrow about 7 kids orphaned on the way out west and their adventures trying to find their way across 1000 miles to Oregon because that was were Father wanted to go before he died.

[sagira]

Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder is another story, this time with a boy as the main protagonist (the childhood of her future husband).