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- Verified Buyer
We purchased this book after our kindergartener checked it out of the school library for three straight weeks! It is a nice change of pace from fairies and dolphins, etc! The story follows a 19th century family as they journey down the Ohio River to a new homestead and is a great introduction to learning about this period of history. Our daughter loves the story (obviously!) and the illustrations are nice also.No description saying the book was used. I thought I was paying a new price for a new book. Disappointed. Will probably return.I use this book as part of my transporation curriculum in my first- and second-grade classroom. It's very engaging with great pictures and a lovely story line. Kids love to learn about history through literature, and this is a great book to do just that.What a darling book! My ancestors flatboated down the Ohio, and I used this book and a picture to illustrate an article about these early pioneers..Beautifully illulstratedLove this book!!! Great supplement to any Lewis and Clark lesson for schools in Indianaespecially Clark CountyFast shipping. Product was as described.Were your ancestors part of the Ohio River migration to Indiana and westward? Children now living in Cincinnati or Corydon or Cairo & New Madrid can try to imagine riding downriver in the early 1800s to a strange new location & life. When they landed on shore (opposite where the skyline of Louisville KY now dominates the scene)the young McClure family tore down the flatboat and recycled the lumber to build their new home! In just about that location, the unusual "Falls of the Ohio State Park" was established in Indiana during the last decade. The artist's colorful map of their journey from Pennsylvania is decorated with drawings of wildlife , including bears -- and reminds readers that even some species of birds are now becoming scarcer.No real sense of the dangers & hardships involved comes through Sander's words but perhaps parents can talk with their children about those pioneers and how their stories weren't all told in pretty pictures. Another story (#0027436713) based on Hoosier settlers & drawn from family journals is Joanne Landers Henry's 1992 book "A Clearing in the Forest". It tells how Indianapolis grew from a clearing into a substantial city & state capital, and includes an episode about slaves visiting in a "free" state.Reviewer mcHAIKU recommends Henry's book as well as Scott Sanders' "The Floating House" for good reading in our turbulent times, & because reading about the hard lives of pioneers may help children find a better perspective on their own difficulties.
