Customer Reviews

Patty Reed's Doll: The Story of the Donner Party

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Patty Reed's Doll is an excellent account of the Donner Party and all the other families that were part of the Donner Tragedy.The book describes the families in such detail you feel like you're traveling with them. The Reeds are one of the families that are traveling with the Donner Party. The story is an excellent way to teach elementary school children as well as adults what trailblazing was really like and the severe hardships that went with it. As an elementary school teacher I highly recommend this book. It is an asset to studying California history.

I read this book in 1964 as a 4th grader in Northern California learning state history. I have never forgotten Patty or her doll (which used to be on display at Sutter's Fort). When my children were small it was not in print and I am so happy to see it is again. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to know about American history from a totally different perspective. That of a little wooden doll, chosen amongst many beautiful sisters, to make a rough trip in the pocket of her owner. You will never forget Patty Reed, or her doll, I know I haven't. I am buying the book to keep to read and to my grandchildren.

I'm an 8th grader and recently we've been learning all about the westward movement in the mid-1800's. Now, I haven't been read TO since about third grade, but our school librarian has been coming in to my history class and reading Patty Reed's Doll to us. I loved the story, and reccommend it to people of all ages. It was very educational, too, because it made me realize how hard the journey must have been. It made me feel like I was traveling with the Donner party across America. If you're looking for a good historical fiction, I suggest you try this book. IT'S THE BEST!!! :-)

The story of the Donner Party of 1846 as told by a pocket-sized doll who survived the entire ordeal--a silent witness! These 19 short chapters describe the hope, simple pleasures and ultimate grim saga of starvation of the ill-fated Donner party. This pre-Gold rush wagon train took a bogus cutoff and fell into the pitiless trap of early an winter with record blizzards.

Many of the emigrants who had dreamed of a new life in California endured the bitterness of prolonged starvation; many died (adults and children) in the snowbound cabins by Donner Lake and Summit Pass, but many others survived, including a plucky 8-year-old girl named Patty Reed.

She has a special friend who helps her endure this Ordeal by Hunger--a tiny wooden doll which she keeps hidden in her clothing. This doll (now on display at the Donner Museum near Truckee, CA) bravely shares the fate of her young mistress without complaint, and Patty keeps no secrets from Dolly. "I could not tell her, but I think she knew I lived on Love, not mortal food."

A tender story of incredible deprivation and the will to live. Young readers will be so caught up in the Reed family's struggle (shared by many other Irish families), that they will hardly notice how much they are learning about the Westward movement, wagon trains and the towering Sierra Nevadas. Here is a gentle dose of gritty American history.

I read this book many years ago, but images still remain with me. As told via the narration of the wooden peg-doll (a real doll now residing in a museum!) belonging to Patty Reed, one of the survivors of the infamous Donner Party, this is a fascinating account of the everyday, and also the extraordinary efforts of the families to survive their trip across the west. This is great reading for young people, evocative and vivid...I highly recommend it to anyone!

when you start to read this story . it transforms you into a person in the donner party . this story really makes you take a second look on the donner party .

Patty Reed was an eight year old girl who was a member of the Donner Party. She had a little doll in her pocket throughout the whole ordeal. In this book, it's like the doll is telling the story. It's a wonderful story, a great one to read aloud as a family

This is a beautifully written book that captures the plight of pioneers traveling west. My fourth grade students really gain a sense of what life was like once upon a time. Great book!!...

This is an excellent book that is based on fact and actually sticks very close to the true facts. It is hard to put down once you start it. Our 6 year old granddaughter loved the book, as I did also. I highly recommend it for both children and adults, even though it is written for elementary age children.

I bought this book for my mother as she had been looking for books about the "Donnor Party". She found it interesting to read & enjoyed it.