Bewildered for Three Days: As to Why Daniel Boone Never Wore His Coonskin Cap [Hardcover]

Andrew Glass (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2000 | Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

With the help of what he learned from a Delaware Indian boy and an accommodating mother raccoon, young Daniel Boone escapes danger when a bear steals his coonskin cap.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 1-4-This original tall tale tells why the legendary adventurer never really wore a coonskin cap. The first half of the story describes a fictional childhood friendship between Boone and a Delaware boy, Tu-muk-wayatut, from whom he learns wilderness skills. When the two part, young Daniel is able to use this knowledge in his wanderings. One day, pursued by braves, the boy hides in a hollow log, sharing the spot overnight with a raccoon and her kits. Emerging safely the next morning, the boy vows to the raccoon that he will "never again wear any of your kin on my head." An adult Daniel Boone narrates this story to a painter, and the first-person telling is lively and fast paced. Glass's impressionistic oil paintings are well suited to the tall-tale genre, incorporating expressive features and a vivid palette of primarily greens, browns, and golds. A detailed author's note describes the fact behind the fiction and offers interesting historical background about the man and his times.
Steven Engelfried, Deschutes County Library, Bend, OR
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 2-3, younger for reading aloud. Glass, the author of many books featuring larger-than-life figures from history, weaves together actual events and contemporary anecdotes about Boone into this otherwise original tale. When portrait painter Chester Harding asks Boone why he chooses to pose bareheaded, Boone explains that, contrary to all the stories, he never wears a coonskin cap. Why not? Boone explains that as a youth he had such headgear; but after a series of hair-raising encounters, culminating in a night spent in a hollow log with a mother raccoon and her kits (while a band of "braves" set up camp only inches away), he swore off coonskin forever. Glass tells the tale in an amiable, folksy way, and the dappled oil-paint art reflects the humor. He gives his intrepid hero a disarming modesty and suggests that Boone learned his legendary woodcraft from Delaware and Lenape friends. In a long afterword, printed in tiny type, the author sketches the rest of Boone's long life and specifies which parts of the tale are his own invention. As tall tales go, it's only a little elongated but well endowed with cliff-hangers and narrow escapes. John Peters
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Holiday House; 1st edition (September 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823414469
• ISBN-13: 978-0823414468
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,217,739 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Review of "Bewildered for 3 Days" - a Daniel Boone Story, September 28, 2005

By 

Pam Tee "Busy Mom" - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Bewildered for Three Days: As to Why Daniel Boone Never Wore His Coonskin Cap (Hardcover)

I have been looking for books that would introduce stories that tell something about Early American times. Since my children are young (boy and girl; 3 and 5) I am more interested in giving the `flavor' of the times without being particularly stuck on historical accuracy.

The first book that I found that we liked was Aliki's "Johnny Appleseed". Andrew Glass' "Bewildered for Three Days" is the second.

In this book, Glass weaves a tale (definitely fictional) of why Daniel Boone didn't really wear a coonskin cap-although the cap is one of the things he is known for. In this story, Glass touches on what life was like in the 1700's. He talks about how there were Indians who were friends and Indians who weren't. Boone is shown with a childhood friend who, as a Delaware, showed him woodcraft.

"Little Beaver returned often. We wrestled and practiced tracking animals silently as shadows in the woods. Little Beaver taught me to listen well to the chatter, chirps , and croaks in the forest."

Pros -

--Story is interesting and an easy read-aloud. It uses some archaic speech - thee and thou - but just here and there. Enough to be interesting and educational, it doesn't bog the story down at all.

--The book touches on country life - log cabins and farming - as well as on what sort of things occurred which led to arguments between the settlers and the established peoples.

--There is a nice Author's Note at the end of the book (as well as a map which shows the Cumberland Gap) which summarizes current research on Daniel Boone - when he lived, what he did, his family life. I found it to be a good refresher, reminding me of details that I could point out to my children.

Possible Cons -

--There is an element of violence. Boone as a boy is chased by angry Indians and awakened by an angry bear. There is nothing graphic, and I, personally, just glossed over it.

--The artwork is impressionistic and some younger children might not like it. Mine 5 y.o. didn't mind.

--The story is told in first person which may take some adjustment for some younger children who are used to the third-person.

Four Stars. A good story with lots of opportunities to teach. There is lots of action and things that children can relate to, such as friendship and forgetting to do chores. A nice introduction, though fictional, to colonial times.