Off Like the Wind!: The First Ride of the Pony Express [Hardcover]

Michael P. Spradlin (Author), Layne Johnson (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 7 and up | Grade Level: 2 and up

In 1860, the first Pony Express rider set out on a trail from Missouri to California. With him, he carried a special delivery?the first mail ever carried by hand to the West. Over the next eleven days, he and many other riders would endure harsh weather, dangerous animals, and more, but nothing would diminish their unflagging determination and courage.

Meticulously researched and gorgeously illustrated, Michael P. Spradlin and Layne Johnson's Off Like the Wind! brings to life an adventurous journey, full of suspense and excitement, that celebrates America's can-do attitude and pioneering spirit.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Basing his book, as much as possible, on scanty historical records (the author suggests that files may have been deliberately destroyed after the short-lived company’s collapse to prevent lawsuits), Spradlin re-creates the Pony Express’ first rides east from Sacramento and west from St. Joseph, Missouri—naming riders and horses when he can, and providing a composite of various Express riders’ adventures. Johnson heightens the drama with evocative full-bleed oils depicting riders galloping away from cheering crowds and snarling wolves, ducking an arrow, trudging through a snowstorm, and, in a particularly exciting scene, struggling not to go down amid stampeding buffalo. For collections that don’t already contain Gare Thompson’s Riding with the Mail (2007) or one of the plethora of similar titles, this makes a good introduction for budding fans of the Old West, and provides a stimulating prelude to more detailed histories, such as Tim McNeese’s The Pony Express: Bringing Mail to the American West (2009). An afterword, lists for further reading, a map, and a time line round out the book. Grades 3-5. --John Peters

About the Author

MICHAEL P. SPRADLIN is the author of several books for children and teens, including Walker's Texas Rangers: Legendary Lawmen and Daniel Boone's Great Escape, as well as the Youngest Templar series with Putnam. He lives with his family in Lapeer, Michigan. www.michaelspradlin.com

LAYNE JOHNSON has illustrated more than a dozen picture books for children, including the acclaimed Farmer George Plants a Nation. Mr. Johnson is also a frequent speaker in schools and libraries. When not painting, he loves spending time with his family, gardening, and traveling to historic sites. He lives in Texas. www.laynejohnson.com

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Walker Childrens (February 16, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802796524
• ISBN-13: 978-0802796523
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 11 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,465,519 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars highly recommended for young readers, April 11, 2010

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Off Like the Wind!: The First Ride of the Pony Express (Hardcover)

While most young readers will respond to stories of the early American West, there is little more exciting or educational than a factual account of those days. OFF LIKE THE WIND, The First Ride of the Pony Express is a prime example of a true account that holds more thrills than any fictional cowboy tale could possibly offer.

Illustrated by Layne Johnson's oil paintings this is a book that young ones will want in their libraries and perhaps some day pass on to children of their own. The account of the first Pony Express ride is a story filled with courage, endurance, excitement, and perseverance.

Three businessmen who made their lives carrying wagon loads of goods across the West came up with the idea of building a series of stations across our country from the east to California and the western territories so that a rider might carry mail along this route. With stations every 15 miles or so the rider would be able to change horses at every station.

Obviously, it would take plucky young men to be riders and one was certainly found in Johnny Fry, the first man to take this history making ride. Some 100 stations were placed along the nearly 2,000 mile trail. He carried mail "in small locked pouches called micelles."

Spradlin chronicles the 11 day journey from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California. Each day is accompanied by a description of the land being crossed and the hazards faced plus a stunning full page painting. A map of the Pony Express route, which actually covered a total of 1,840 miles is found on the endpapers.

Highly recommended.

- Gail Cooke

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This was a mesmerizing and exciting look at the first Pony Express riders and their historical first journey!, March 12, 2010

By 

D. Fowler "Dragonfly77" (Vermont) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Off Like the Wind!: The First Ride of the Pony Express (Hardcover)

There was danger to be found along the lengthy route, but there was also money to be made. At "five dollars per half ounce," many people were willing to pay the price because some had not heard from their families for months and in some instances for years. In frontier days, most letters had been traveling by ship to California, but the journey was sometimes treacherous and took months. William H. Russell, Alexander Majors, and William B. Waddell put their entrepreneurial heads together and came up with a possible solution. They believed that the mail could be delivered quickly by carefully charting a route to the West, purchasing ponies and enlisting riders. After snagging a government contract and they would be in business.

This venture soon became known as the Pony Express. The riders were pumped, the mail was ready, the stations were set up and they were ready to go. The first day began in St. Joseph Missouri on April 3, 1860. Johnny Fry was the first man in history to mount a pony with his mail pouch, a pouch that eventually would make its way to Sacramento, California on the back of a pony. These "small locked pouches called `mochilas'" would see a lot of excitement along their eleven-day journey. There were storms, "nervous buffalo" herds to avoid, marauding Indians, wolf packs, skittish ponies, and difficult terrain to travel. In this book you will read about these brave riders and their exciting historical journey to deliver the mail in record time.

This was a mesmerizing and exciting look at the first Pony Express riders and their historical first journey. If the reader looks carefully at the fantastic artwork when reading the story, he or she can almost feel the excitement of the trip. I loved the "cowboy" art because it captures a slice of Americana and the old West perfectly. The end pages have a timeline, an illustrated map of the route and one of a mochila. The author's note sheds more light on the history of the Pony express, a note that could provide a stepping stone to a student's report. There are also additional recommended book and website resources for the young reader to consider. This book provides a nice historical slice of the old West you might want to take a look at!

5.0 out of 5 stars OFF LIKE THE WIND, March 28, 2011

By 

J. Mills "Shama" (Anaheim, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Off Like the Wind!: The First Ride of the Pony Express (Hardcover)

I bought Off Like the Wind for my grandsons for next Christmas. It is a wonderful book, the story very well written for 7-10 year olds, and the art work is beautiful! I love stories of the old west myself and thought this was an exceptional book. One that I would love to have in my personal collection.