Books with author Holly Littlefield

During the mid-1800s, nearly half a million Americans traveled west in wagon trains. Families walked and rode over two thousand miles, facing bad weather, disease, and even starvation. In Children of the Trail West, look at the youngest wagon train members--the children who hunted for game, drove cattle, and slept under the stars as they followed their fortunes west.

From Booklist Reviewed with Holly Littlefields' Children of the Orphan Trains. Gr. 3-6. Historical photographs are the focus in this very moving Picture the American Past series. There's a sepia print on every page, and Littlefield fills in the history and the personal stories with informative text and captions that will encourage readers to look closely at the photos to see what they show and what they leave out. The stories are heartrending. Many Indian children were torn from their homes and sent away to be taught European culture in boarding school; they sit stiffly for group portraits in European clothes, their hair cut short, their names changed. Children sent west on orphan trains line up for inspection, hoping they look strong enough for work so that a stranger will offer them a home. Both books make it clear that some children ran away, some died, and some did well. Littlefield ends with excellent suggestions for further reading and classroom projects. Hazel Rochman Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved