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1940

Editor's Note: Many of the books are out of print. The header information will be as complete as I can make it.

Daniel Boone by James Daugherty (Viking Press, sixth-grade level). Out of print	The Medalist The marvelous frontiersmen is glorified in this brief biography. If ever there were a book that is a towering monument to purple prose and political incorrectness, this would be my candidate. The exploits of Boone and his peers read like the actions of buckskin-clad gods atop Mount Olympus. The Indians are nothin' but varmints. If you wade through the metaphors, you can discern a nugget or two of historical fact. The illustrations done by the author are interesting because their style presages the heroic action figures found in modern comic books.
The Singing Tree by Kate Seredy (Scholastic, $5.99, paperback, fifth-grade level). ISBN: 0-590-44549-9.	Honor Book In this sequel to The Good Master, young Kate and her friends on the farm experience World War I. Kate is her usual irrepressible self, but the focus is less on her than on others who suffer from Hungary's experiences during the war. It's interesting to read a story about the war from the side of a country that allied itself with Germany. As usual, Seredy tells a story that is rich in characterization, humor and sentiment. With a little twist this could have been an extremely sad book. As it is, readers will learn much about rural life in central Europe and a little about the Great War.
Runner of the Mountain Tops: The Life of Louis Agassiz by Mabel Robinson (Random House, seventh-grade level). Out of print	Honor Book Robinson paints a melodramatic and not always flattering picture of the great naturalist who moved from Europe to make his home at Harvard. Agassiz, as no one disputes, was a brilliant man who did much to advance our understanding of natural history and geology. There seems to be no dispute, either, that he was an enormous egotist who had virtually no awareness of the needs and feelings of those around him. Robinson, as is usual for the time period and audience for which she wrote, invents dialogue and ascribes emotion to the players without a shred of evidence. Her promise is at times purple.
By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder (HarperCollins, $13.56, fifth-grade level). ISBN: 060264160.	Honor Book The second book in Wilder's semi-autobiographical series on life on the American frontier sees the Ingalls family build a cabin on the shore of Silver Lake in Dakota Territory after the father lands a job as store manager for a railroad company. Many things strike me about this second book, which reveals the author's strengths. She continues to broaden character development the way any author of a good series should. The story contains few narrative high points but just enough dramatic tension to keep the reader engaged. Hardships are given their due but willingly accepted as part of the challenge of living, which seems so at odds with the modern tendency to whine. As a former history teacher, I enjoy these books as historical documents. This is primary information about frontier living, including authentic songs and recipes and observations that only first-hand experience could provide. Speaking of which, the author introduces a character in this novel who in real life becomes her husband. The other books in the series: These Happy Golden Years, Little Town on the Prairie, The Long Winter, On the Banks of Plum Creek38)
Boy with a Pack by Stephen W. Meader (Harcourt Brace, fifth-grade level). Out of print	Honor Book The author provides a picaresque, melodramatic tale about a teen-age boy who becomes a peddler and hustles his wares on the American frontier. The young is continually meeting villains, who get their comeuppance, and good folks, who get their rewards as he wanders from New England to Ohio. Along the way he meets a sweet young girl who, we assume, will become his wife when they reunite on the last page. This is a cute, harmless story that provides a minimal amount of information about life in early America, circa 1820.

Copyright David Ross 2003-2004