Oregon Trail is a children’s book that explains what the Oregon Trail was and why it was so important to the development of the United States. When the pioneers set out to make their mark out west there was one way to get there and that was the Oregon Trail. It started in Independence , Missouri and ended in Oregon City, Oregon.
The book has great pictures and maps showing the way that the pioneers had to travel on their way out west to grab their own piece of land to start a new life. The book explains about all of the dangers that the travelors faced on their trip and talked about what the settlers would need to make the journey. It is interesting to note that there were certain times of the year that the pioneers could travel because of the changing seasons and weather conditions. Traveling by covered wagon was not as fast or as safe as traveling today.
Some interesting facts are that there was a mountain trail that was so narrow that they called it the Devil’s Backbone because both people and the wagons with the animals had to walk single file along it’s ridges. Did you know that there are still to this day wagon tracks that can be seen on parts of the Oregon Trail? This book is educational and fun to look at and imagine what it would be like to travel across the country in the same way that the pioneers did.
Oregon Trail was written by Sarah Tieck and was copyrighted in 2008 by ABDO Publishing Company. You can visit their website here: http://www.abdopublishing.com
Nancy Bourke has written a wonderful children’s book of poems filled with expressions of childlike awe and joy of everyday experiences that life and nature provide. As people grow up, they somehow lose their appreciation of the small things in life; like the feel of grass beneath their feet, or their amazement as the seeds of a dandelion are taken away like little miniature dandelion bubbles on the journey of the wind.
Nancy Bourke, the author, tells of her inspiration for writing Dandelion Bubbles; it was a spring day at the park with her son who was three years old at the time. Mother and son were blowing the white fluffy dandelion flowers into the wind when her son called them dandelion bubbles. Those words inspired the title of the poem that she wrote the next day…it also became the title of the book. The book became a family project as Nancy’s husband Kevin Bourke took some of the photos that were published in the finished book. Speaking of the photos, the feel and ambience of the words is captured visually through the skilled photos between the covers of the book.
The book, Dandelion Bubbles, reacquaints the reader with the feelings of their childhood when everything that they witnessed about the world around them filled them with excitement. A child’s joy is contagious. Adults need to merely listen to the words of a child to be inspired to find their own appreciation of the seasons and the environment. The poems in this book, written for young readers ages birth to approximately seven years of age, will encourage your child to describe the world around them in ways that will fill you with amazement; and, remind you to enjoy the world around you. I highly recommend this book for you to share with some special young reader who holds your heart in their hands.
If you would like to purchase this book you can go to Nancy’s website here: http://www.dandelionbubbles.com/home.html or you can purchase the book at: http://www.amazon.com . This book was received by me from the author as a free review copy.
Rainy’s Recommendations
