Customer Reviews

Meet Kirsten: An American Girl

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is another in the American Girls Short Stories series about Kirsten Larson, a nine-year-old girl from Sweden. This is the first book in this series. In it, we meet Kirsten on the Eagle, a sailing ship bringing her and her family from Sweden to America in 1854. Leaving behind the life she knew, Kirsten sails across the wide Atlantic, takes her first ever train ride, sees several big cities, and begins her new life in frontier Minnesota. It is a journey mixing joy and grief, and fear and happiness.

This book is quite fascinating, showing the joys and dangers in the life of an immigrant to the United States in the Nineteenth Century. Kirsten is adorable, and yet teaches the young reader. As an added bonus, the book contains a final chapter that provides a great deal of information on the experiences of immigrants in that time. As always, Renee Graef's illustrations are plentiful and beautifully done, adding greatly to the story. My nine-year-old daughter loves these books, and I must admit that reading them with her has kindled my own interest in my Swedish ancestors. This is a great book!

I have read the first two in the Kirsten AG series with my 5 year old daughter. I love the fact that Kirsten is polite and respectful to her elders. You don't find books that portray parents as anything less than idiots, these days. The pictures were beautiful, and the story simple enough for our daughter to follow. I can only pray that AG keeps putting out wholesome products like this!

My preschooler is ready for chapter books, but most chapter books are either meant for beginning readers, with a controlled vocabulary, or are meant for older kids, with content that isn't appropriate for a four-year-old. The Kirsten books are both appropriate read-aloud material for preschoolers on up, with good stories, clear plot lines, simple yet not controlled vocabulary. Using the story of a little girl to teach historical fiction leads to discussions about different time periods, often leading us to do further research about modes of transportation, geography, farm life, immigration, etc.

My daughter really enjoys these books, and so do I. If her dad reads a chapter, I find myself going back and reading it so I know what I missed! A previous reviewer was upset by the use of Swedish words. The only Swedish words in the first book were "Tak" which means "thank you" and was clearly understood using context clues, and her names for her grandparents, which my daughter found no more confusing than her friends' names for their grandparents: Nanny and Pappy, Granny and Pop Pop, Grammie and Grampie, etc.

Yes, Marta dies. Yes, Kirsten gets lost in the city. Yes, the family faces hardships. What family doesn't? But the message is that the Larson family sticks together, works hard to overcome their difficulties and make a better life for themselves. The parents clearly love the children, the children love and respect the parents, and they all understand the importance of working together for the good of the entire family. Along with the Little House on the Prairie books, this series is wholesome and educational while being fun and enjoyable.

Kirsten Larson is my favorite out of the American Girls collection. I read all the books in Kirsten's series and I liked this one the best. My favorite part is when Kirsten meets all her American family members. I think she was very brave to be able to go all the way to the United States when she was only nine years old. I'm eleven and I know that I would have been scared to do that, especially in the year 1854.

Meet Kirsten is a historical fiction book based on a pioneer farm girl that lived in 1854. In the book, the love that Kirsten feels for her family and friends seems to inspire her to cope with her new life in America. The day to day struggles she faced in the new frontier brings adventure and danger once she leaves Sweden.

Mrs. Shaw makes it easier for the reader to imagine what is happening in the story. The scenes in the story have lots of details. The author has given the characters individual voices that express their emotions very well. For example, Kirsten was sad when she said "Mormor (grandmother) said, `When you're lonely, look at the sun. Remember that we all see the same sun.'" As I read this I felt that Kirsten was actually sad, but she was trying to cheer up her friend, Marta.
This is an interesting book to read because I think that learning about the past helps us understand the present. This is knowledge that we can all benefit from.

The author, Janet Shaw loved to read so much that she fell asleep reading a book once. She loved reading and writing so much that she became a writer.

Meet Kristin should be read by all girls and boys who like American history and surprising stories. So head to the library, book store, or the American Girl store to get this amazing book now.

Imagine that you been on a ship. A ship that is taking you from Sweden to America and you can not wait to go on land again. Then when you reach land, you and your family are going to live with your aunt and uncle and two cousins.

In Meet Kirsten she feels excited to get back on land, but she gets lost .How will she get to her family. In the story she finds a friend a friend that was to on the ship with her. What a great time for Kirsten. She also has to travel in America to get to her aunt, uncle and two cousins.

My favorite character is Kirsten. She is my favorite because kind and nice. She is kind to her friend because she plays nicely. She is nice to her family because she did not fight her mom or dad about going to America on the ship

There are some differences between Kirsten and me here are 3. She lived around 1854 and I am live in the 2000s. She moved to America. I have lived in America my entire life. She has two brothers and I have a sister. Those are some differences between me and her.

This is a book in a series of other Kirsten books and American Girl books. I would recommend these books to people who like to read about historical fiction.

Sarah H.

I think this is a very good book because it has happy and sad parts and had a very good plot. Kirstin is a pioneer girl from Sweden who is coming to America to live on her uncle's farm. She has many hard times and makes many friends along the way. I have read all of the "Meet the American Girl" series except for "Meet Molly", and I believe "Meet Kirstin" was one of the best.

I thought this book was pretty good, but I want to comment on something another reviewer said. She said the only part of the book she didn't like was when the book was in Swedish. If my memory serves me correctly, there was a whopping one word in Swedish and anyone with a couple of brain cells could have figured out it meant "thank you"

Meet Kirsten is an American Girl story about a twelve year old girl and her family. In the beginning she and her family are on a boat to America from Sweden. They have come to America to see their family. I liked this book because it really got into the life of an American girl like it was a true story. It was really interesting and good. I recommend it. If you are bored you should read an American Girl book. The only bad part of it was in Swedish and I couldn't understand what they were saying.

I read a book that was an American girls book. I liked the book because it was full of excitement. It's about a girl named Kristen. She came from Sweden to live in American with another family.In the family was Kirsten's friend. I liked these books. Do you think all of them well make it? I recomend this to girls who love sad stories.