This is a collection of poetry from a young girl in Oregon during the early 1900's. There is an interesting perspective that poetry brings to history. Claudine is very descriptive in the world she lives in. Some of these poems are over a hundred years old.

Ages- 2nd -5th grade

Genre- Poetry

Media- Pencil ( )

I want to give this (mostly) light, sweet, gracefully written historical fiction 4 stars, but I can't because of the illustrations. They're fine, of themselves, but they're soft and almost colorless, which puts a 'mists of time' distance betwen Lewis's story and the reader.

The thing is, the people who lived in the old days are not 'historical figures.' They are not abstract, iconographic. Most especially, they are not distant, different, & irrelevant. Their world had colors.

They simply are real people who lived in another time. The children loved their mamas and squabbled with their siblings and feared for their papas who were off to war. They loved sweets, and school vacation, and sometimes school, too. I firmly believe that history should be taught with immediacy, and illustrations depicting the past should be drawn in a style that makes them authentic and alive for the reader.

Rant over. I do recommend the book for the text. ( )

Genre: Poetry
Age Appropriateness: Primary, intermediate
Media: pencil
Review: This is a good example of poetry, because it is a story about a young girls experiences in Oregon written in all poetry. The stories are enduring and the experiences she has over a one year period. The poems are unique and entertaining to read. ( )

Genre: Poetry
Age Appropriateness: Intermediate
Review: This book is a great example of poetry it is filled with free verse poems about everyday life for a young girl growing up in Oregon during the early 1900's. The poems cover events like Christmas time, town events like parades for the soldiers who passed, working at a mill, and a day at school.
Media:pencil ( )