From School Library Journal
Grade 1-4. Evoking another era with a story of a familiar celebration, this picture book focuses on the antics of a creative but mischievous boy named Jesse. He is left out of the preparations for this special day on the wagon train, a welcomed respite in the arduous journey from Indiana to Oregon. Jesse joins forces with his chums to invent some lively, homemade musical accompaniment to the "speechifying" and feast. The boys' contribution is very much appreciated, and the day ends triumphantly for Jesse, creating memories that will last a lifetime. The day is important to these hardy pioneers, and their emotions shine through in the hazy, yet realistic, pastel-toned artwork, executed in a combination of watercolor, colored pencils, and ink. Van Leeuwen has based her descriptions of food, dress, and customs on an actual celebration of the Fourth along the Oregon Trail in 1852, and on the memoirs of seven-year-old Jesse Applegate. This story could be used in conjunction with the author's Going West (Dial, 1992), as well as with David Williams's Grandma Essie's Covered Wagon (Knopf, 1993) and Scott Sanders's Aurora Means Dawn (Bradbury, 1989). This happy coordination of art and text is cause for celebration.?Martha Rosen, Edgewood School, Scarsdale, NY
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Ages 4^-8. Based on a diary account of a Fourth of July celebration on the Oregon Trail in 1852, this combines a child's voice and viewpoint with handsome paintings that capture the pioneer experience. When the wagon train from Indiana stops to rest the weary cattle and hold a feast for July fourth, Jesse is too young to join the men who go hunting, and he can't help the women baking and the older girls sewing a flag, so he and the other young boys find whistles, bells, and makeshift drums, and they surprise everyone with their marching band's rousing rendition of "Yankee Doodle." The touching details of Jesse's personal story, drawn from a real Jesse's lively memoirs, make us imagine what it was like for a family on the trail. Sorensen's watercolor double-page spreads, in warm shades of yellow and brown, with ink and colored pencil, focus on strong portraits of the individual people as they work and celebrate together among their tents and covered wagons on the stretching plains. Hazel Rochman
--This text refers to an alternate
Hardcover
edition.
