Going West!: Journey on a Wagon Train to Settle a Frontier Town (Kaleidoscope Kids) [Paperback]

Carol A. Johmann (Author), Elizabeth J. Rieth (Author), Michael Kline (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up | Series: Kaleidoscope Kids

This title is suitable for ages 9 to 12 years. You are there as part of a family of five - from the decision to pack up and leave; to buying the supplies and outfitting the wagon in independence, MO; to the arduous journey to Oregon; and building a new life in a frontier town. Take the challenge as you consider the same hard choices and tough decisions that the 'overlanders' faced as they traversed the continent in the Great Migration of the mid-1800s. Construct you own raft, canal locks, train, paddle boat, and prairie schooner for the unforgettable trip West. Meet Daniel Boone, Lewis and Clark, Sacajawea, Kit Carson, and the other mountain men, trailblazers, and American Indians who forged the way. Experience the Gold Rush by staking a claim and panning for gold; learn to lasso like a cowboy and make your own 'brand'; 'ride the tornado', pile up 'leeverites', and host a spelling bee; build yourself a pretzel log cabin or a sod house made from brownies - and construct a huge model of Fort Laramie.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Kids can take a vicarious dose of Horace Greeley's famous advice in the activity book Going West!: Journey on a Wagon Train to Settle a Frontier Town by Carol A. Johmann and Elizabeth J. Reith. Spurts of friendly, informative narrative relating different aspects of travel along the Oregon Trail link such projects as building a model prairie schooner out of a cardboard box, balsa wood and an old pillowcase; and constructing a miniature Fort Laramie out of Popsicle sticks.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Gr 3-6-A good combination of history lesson, craft instruction, critical-thinking activities, and story. The factual sections give background on the American acquisition of the land extending to the Pacific Ocean, Native American philosophy regarding land ownership, Indian land loss, and a great deal of additional information pertaining to life on the westward trails. "You Are There" pieces narrated by a fictional child chronicling wagon-train life and sidebars encouraging readers to ponder various situations and make decisions on the trail appear throughout the text. Short sections explain crafts and skills analogous to those used by the pioneers. The projects are well illustrated with line drawings and children should be able to complete them with a minimum of adult help. The interweaving of various types of writing, viewpoints, and activities results in an animated and interesting whole that will appeal to readers interested in the topic. Period photos help bring the era to life and a few simple maps indicate wagon routes. Laurie Carlson's Westward Ho! (Chicago Review, 1996) has a similar format, but the addition of a story in Going West! is likely to encourage children to read it from cover to cover. Combine this title with Louis M. Bloch Jr.'s Overland to California in 1859 (Bloch & Company, 1990), compiled from mid-19th-century documents, to help students relive the excitement of the pioneer days.-Lynda Ritterman, Atco Elementary School, NJ

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Williamson Pub (October 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1885593384
• ISBN-13: 978-1885593382
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 9.9 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #429,179 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lots of Fun!, February 9, 2004

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Going West! Journey On A Wagon Train To Settle A Frontier Town (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition) (Kaleidoscope Kids Books (Tandem Library)) (School & Library Binding)

I'm 10 and I really liked the book and felt like I was really riding on a wagon train across the country. I made the Fort Laramie project out of old popsicle sticks, it didn't look perfect but I had fun making it. On winter vacation, I want to do more of the projects.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun and Engaging!, January 14, 2009

By 

MMM - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Going West!: Journey on a Wagon Train to Settle a Frontier Town (Kaleidoscope Kids) (Paperback)

This book was a wonderful purchase.

We are using it right now within our home school study of westward movement in the mid-nineteenth century. We have found the text engaging and many of the projects suggested both simple and enjoyable-- which cannot be said of many of the projects suggested in similar books!

Thus far we have selected to make a working model of a canal lock, dried apples, churned "bump along butter" (even easier than I expected),made a simple "buzz saw" toy, and constructed a prairie schooner model (the most involved activity, but still was not too hard). Next we will make the paper cabin "windows". Using the trail supplies list, we made choices to outfit our imaginary wagons, practicing math along the way as we had to multiply quantities, add weights and costs, and subtract from our allowance.

The text engages children with interesting presentation of information, plenty of reference to a pioneer child's perspective, and "What would you do?" or "What do you think?" questions.

Though it is titled Going West!, it does focus primarily on travel along the Oregon and California trails in the mid-nineteenth century. The hypothetical family loosely followed in the book does start their journey from their home in NY, so travel by canal, train and steamship to Independence are very briefly covered, and the National Road is mentioned in a sidebar.

What the book lacks to make it a sole resource on the topic for purposes like ours: Real photographs of the period (or artifacts from the period), and the more in-depth information you might crave on some aspects of the topic. For this, you can always use other resources. We have been using Going West! as the "spine" of our unit, while supplementing with a couple of other books by looking up topics concurrently in the indexes. Nothing beats a real photograph of the time, especially since this is the first era for which they are available! The two main books we've been using for this have been Daily Life in a Covered Wagon, by Paul Erickson, and Growing Up in Pioneer America: 1800 - 1890, by Judith Pinkerton Josephson.

I could easily see this book being read and used enthusiastically by a curious, history or craft-loving kid in his spare time.

I hope this is helpful to a fellow homeschooler or anyone else looking for a fun book about Going West!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Activity Book About Westward Migration!, January 21, 2008

By 

Lynn Ellingwood "The ESOL Teacher" (Webster, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Going West!: Journey on a Wagon Train to Settle a Frontier Town (Kaleidoscope Kids) (Paperback)

This is a nice activity book about westward migration and the pioneer life. The facts and the activities in this book are entertaining and fun. Both adults and children would not be hesitant to make the items for fear it would take too much time or require materials that one is not likely to have on hand. I found many facts that I had never heard or understood completely before. This book is great for the future engineers in your family or kids who would benefit in understanding how things are made. The reading is easy, interesting and fun.