Billy the Kid (Outlaws and Lawmen of the Wild West) [Library Binding]

Carl R. Green (Author), William R., (Wi Sanford (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up | Series: Outlaws and Lawmen of the Wild West

Traces the brief and violent life of the outlaw who gained notoriety throughout the West.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-6-- Although only a teenager during his ``notorious'' years, Henry McCarty became a celebrity known as Billy the Kid, and he has been a legend ever since. Green and Sanford have put together a factual, informative book that is illustrated mostly with photographs of people and places associated with Billy (only two have been found of him). An excellent supplement is a recent article and commentary--larded with fascinating peripheral details--by Bob Boze Bell from Arizona Highways (August, 1991). Gunman, lawman, horseman, showman, brave man, and dead man when he was shot in the back of his head by a hired killer, James Butler Hickock lived 39 rough and exciting years. This brief glimpse of one of our mid-19th century ``Wild West'' heroes is understandably written and filled with black-and-white photographs. Most of the books on the eight-item list of suggested readings are out of print or inaccessible to young readers; the index lacks entries for several places mentioned. However, the book is a fine introduction to a man who, according to a bronze tablet at his birthplace in Illinois, helped make the West ``A safe place for women and children.'' --George Gleason, Department of English, Southwest Missouri State University, Springfield
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

In this revised edition of an entry in the Outlaws and Lawmen of the Wild West series, first published in 1992, the authors pick out the few bits of verifiable fact from the thicket of legends that has grown around this most renowned of outlaws. Along with retracing the brief career of the lad actually born “Henry Antrim,” this is a character study that portrays him as irresistibly charming to men and women alike. In the authors’ view, he was led to a life of crime by bad companions, but then took to it willingly enough—a scenario that may have some resonance with young readers facing or seeing the results of similarly unwise choices. Illustrated with a mix of period photos and modern movie stills, and capped by on-target lists of print and Web resources, this tale of the Kid’s short, violent career will feed an interest in bad men, but may prompt some self-examination too. Grades 3-5. --John Peters --This text refers to an alternate Library Binding edition.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Library Binding: 48 pages
• Publisher: Enslow Publishers (March 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0894903640
• ISBN-13: 978-0894903649
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,594,089 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars If you're into the wild west, gunslingers and outlaws, you've come to the right place!, June 23, 2009

By 

D. Fowler "Dragonfly77" (Vermont) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Billy the Kid (Outlaws and Lawmen of the Wild West) (Library Binding)

Henry Antrim needed a bit of cash and decided he'd steal "a tub of butter" and naturally, thinking no one would notice, sold it to a local store in Silver City. Well, it didn't go unnoticed and then when the sheriff caught up with him he got a spanking. He was a motherless little guy who had been taken in by Mrs. Sarah Brown but apparently even she didn't have much influence on Henry nor did the spanking he got. The next stunt he pulled was with a friend named Sombrero Jack. They decided on a Chinese laundry heist and stole some clothes. It was said that Jack took them, but you are only as good as the company you keep and Henry went to jail. He wasn't put in a cell and soon decided that Silver City, New Mexico wasn't for him and he escaped "by climbing up the chimney." He left his name there too and would later be known as Billy the Kid.

As a young boy he was a good student, but apparently learned from the rough and tumble environment of Silver City that it "seemed easier to take what one wanted" and he also learned the "Code of the West." If you're wronged, pay `em back! When he escaped from jail, he went to Arizona and learned cowboy skills, skills that later came in quite handy. By 1876 he was a petty thief and joined up with John Mackie. Soon he ended up in jail, but not for long. The "Kid" had started his life of crime in earnest when he murdered a man in cold blood when he was slapped down. He became a "crack shot," a livestock rustler, a gang member . . . an outlaw as famous as any rock star today!

If you're into the wild west, gunslingers and outlaws, you've come to the right place. This book is well researched and tosses out or explains many of the reasons Billy the Kid became a legend. The author states that "the stories and quotes used in this book are all drawn from firsthand reports." The text is not dull and the tension and excitement of the story will keep the reader going until the end. There are numerous photographs and art reproductions. In the back of the book there is a glossary, an index and additional recommended book and internet resources. You can even read about his Houdini-like escape from a surefire hanging at the Lincoln County gallows!