Pacaritambo

CHILDREN OF THE WILD WEST
by Russell Freedman. B&W era photos illustrate. Condition: UNREAD, but not perfect, 1992 Scholastic Trade Paperback, third printing. Light impressions front cover with small edgewear. Interior clean & tight. Pale shelfwear crease bottom back cover corner. Content: With a focus on children's experience of the American frontier history from the 1840s to the early 1900s, Russell Freedman tells about the hardships of early pioneers on their way west as well as their everyday life after they had settled down in Oregon, California, or other western states. One chapter of the book is dedicated to the native inhabitants of the western territory -- the American Indians. Two other interesting chapters tell about frontier schools and how games, parties, and celebrations made the hard daily life more bearable for children and adults alike. Dozens of excellent, large-sized photos illustrate the author's excellent description of pioneer life. Freedman's first chapter even gives an overview of the work of frontier photographers. While the well-researched book is aiming at younger readers, I still recommend "Children Of The Wild West" for every reader interested in basic facts of the American frontier history. Freedman's style of writing is entertaining as well as educating. Grades 7 and up. [1 copy available]
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COWBOY COOKING (Exploring History Through Simple Recipes series)
by Mary Gunderson. Wonderful old B&W era photos illustrate. Condition: NEW 2000 Blue Earth hardcover (pictorial boards - no DJ issued), first edition, first printing. Content: Heavily illustrated with photographs and complete with recipes for standard fare including biscuits, beans, and beef, this book gives readers a real sense of life on the dusty trail. There's even a section on etiquette and the cowboy "sweet tooth." If readers like their history served up on a plate, then this series is for them. Historical narrative is blended with recipes of the time, thus giving glimpses of the period while introducing traditional foods of hungry cowboys, frontier families, and intrepid explorers of the 1800s. An editor's note explains that, "Although based on historical foods, recipes have been modernized and simplified for today's young cooks." Geared to ages 3 to 6, but way too advanced for a three-year-old child. Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
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CONESTOGA WAGONS
by Richard Ammon. Color illustrations and wrap-around cover art by Bill Farnsworth. Condition: UNREAD 2000 Holiday House hardcover & DJ (in mylar jacket), first edition, first printing. Gift inscription on loose endpage and the DJ has been price-clipped. However, a nice insert from the Historical Society about the wagons. Content: The history of the "wagon that won the West" - so to speak - from invention to the American Revolution to the treks Westward. Not your everyday history subject for kids, but a fascinating one - and a nice change. Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
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COWBOYS OF THE WILD WEST
by Russell Freedman. B&W era photos illustrate. Condition: UNREAD, but not perfect, 1993 Scholastic Trade Paperback, first printing. Hinge crease from name stamp inside front cover. Interior clean & tight. Light edgewear. Content: Large type; clear , historic black-and-white photographs and no-nonsense but readable writing give this volume style, punch and character. Basic information is sufficient to satisfy casual readers as well as school researchers, and the good bibliography could lead one to more extensive, adult literature, such as William W. Savage, Jr.'s Cowboy Life: Reconstructing an American Myth. The genuine vividness of some of the illustrations may escape readers unfamiliar with the terrain and working conditions of the cowboy; however, such pictures can be read at several levels, and primary impact is satisfying. Certainly a book to linger over and to turn to again and again. Grades 7 and up.
$ 4.29 + $ 3.09 media shipping. [Email for shipping charges on international orders.]

COWGIRL MEGAN (Magic Attic Club)
by Trisha Magraw. Color illustrations by Janice Leotti & Rich Grote. Condition: NEW 1996 Magic Attic Press hardcover (pictorial boards) & DJ (in mylar jacket). Perfect condition. NOT a remainder. Content: Megan and her three best friends find a golden key that unlocks a neighbor's attic where they discover a trunk full of wonderful outfits and a mirror that transports them into the past. On this trip, Megan goes back to the old wild west show and mets Annie Oakley and Kate, an expert stunt rider who was blinded in an accident. Kate teaches Megan to ride her horse and to perform the stunts. In turn, Megan helps Kate - but how? Neat bit of "historical fiction" for the younger set.
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JO AND THE BANDIT
by Willo Davis Roberts. Mike Engle cover art. Condition: NEW 1992 Athenum hardcover & DJ (in mylar jacket), first edition, second printing. Content: Twelve-year-old Jo and her brother have been orphaned, and on their way to stay with their uncle, the stagecoach is robbed. Artistic Jo draws pictures to identify the bandits, but she fights to save the youngest, reluctant bandit even when her uncle, the judge, uses her as bait to catch them. Fast-paced action and stimulating dialogue. Texas in the 1880s. [1 copy available]
$ 4.59 + $ 3.19 media shipping. [Email for shipping charges on international orders.]

LITTLE PORCUPINE'S WINTER DEN (Smithsonian Wild Heritage Collection)
by Susan Thompson-Hoffman. Jennifer Haberstock cover & illustrations. Condition: NEW 1992 SoundPrints hardcover (pictorial boards - no jacket issued), first edition, second printing. Warm & appropriate color illustrations. Content: A young porcupine grows up fast on the north rim of the Grand Canyon as she seeks shelter from plunging temperatures and fierce winds and protects herself from the many dangers of her wilderness habitat. Ages 9+.
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MUSTANG CANYON (Historical Fiction - of sorts)
by Jonathan London. Color illustrations by Daniel San Souci. Condition: Very Good 2002 Candlewick Press hardcover (pictorial boards) & DJ (in mylar jacket), first edition, first printing. Intended for (and marked by) a school library, but never checked out. It has, however, been gently pre-read. Content: The story of a very young pinto colt and his mother, father, and their band as they elude capture and remain free in the desert canyons of the Southwest. Lovely story and wonderful watercolor illustrations.
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NEGROES IN THE EARLY WEST
by Olive W. Burt. B&W drawings by Lorence F. Bjorklund. Condition: Good only, 1970 Julian Messner hardcover (pictorial boards) & DJ (in mylar jacket), second printing. This is an EX-LIBRARY book (and most likely library binding edition) with all markings, but was only checked out once - so the interior is remarkably clean & tight. Content: Portraits of the early Negro/African American presence in the American West, including explorers, mountain men, founders of cities, businessmen, cowboys, soldiers, and women in the west. Recommended for grades 4 - up. [1 copy available.]
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A RIGHT FINE LIFE: Kit Carson on the Santa Fe Trail (Biographical Novel/Historical Fiction)
text and color illustrations by Andrew Glass. The illustrations (oil paintings) are perfect for evoking the spirit of the old west. Maps decorate the end pages. Condition: NEW 1997 Holiday House hardcover (with reinforced binding) and DJ (in mylar jacket), first edition, first printing. Content: Noting that the "facts" reported in many books about Kit Carson are based on earlier legendary accounts, Glass spins a tall tale of his own. In this entertaining picture book for older readers, Kit Carson tells of running away as a 16-year-old to join a wagon train bound for Santa Fe. While on the trail, he keeps his head when a prairie fire causes a buffalo stampede, he amputates a man's arm to save his life, and he befriends an Indian girl who helps rid him of fleas and gives him a Cheyenne name meaning Little Chief. The full-page and double-page oil paintings, heavily textured, are as vivid and colorful as the tale. Long notes about the Santa Fe Trail as well as Carson himself add to the usefulness of this action-packed book, which will supplement more traditional histories of the period. Questions welcome. [1 copy available.]
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SAN DOMINGO: The Medicine Hat Stallion (Historical Fiction)
by Marguerite Henry. B&W illustrations by Robert Lougheed. Condition: New 1992 Aladdin Trade PB, 4th printing. Tiny edgewear. Fully illustrated with B&W drawings. Content: Set in Wyoming at the time of the pony express, Peter Lundy is given a special horse, a Medicine Hat stallion he calls San Domingo. A special bond forms between the two until Peter's father trades the little stallion. Devastated, Peter leaves home and is finally reunited with his beloved horse. Together they embark on an adventure that keeps the reader on the edge of their seat.
$ 2.59 + $ 2.89 media shipping. [Email for shipping charges on international orders.]

SHOOTING FOR THE MOON: The Amazing Life and Times of Annie Oakley
by Stephen Krensky. Illustrated in color by Bernie Fuchs. Condition: Very Good condition 2001 Melanie Kroupa Books (Farrar) large hardcover & DJ (in mylar cover), first edition, first printing. Although unread, the DJ has seen some light moisture-humidity inside and there is a gift inscription loose endpage. Overall, however, very good condition. Content: This picture-book biography follows Oakley from age 5, when her father died, through her starring role, at age 26, in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. An afterword tells of her international fame and some of her life until her death at age 66. Krensky does a good job of relating the highlights of the sharpshooter's intrinsically interesting life and setting them in historical perspective. Fuchs's oil paintings in muted earth tones have a hazy, slightly unfinished look, which works well with the text.. A fine introduction to a fascinating and resourceful woman. Grades 3+.
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SNOWBOUND: The Tragic Story of the Donner Party
by David Lavender. B&W photos and maps. Condition: New 1996 Scholastic edition, 6th printing. Large softcover. Tiny, tiny edgewear. Content: A precise, dispassionate, horrifying account of the Donner party's disastrous trek to California that will have readers counting their blessings. Inspired by a land speculator's highly misleading guidebook, the two large Donner families and several associates set out from Independence, Missouri, in May 1846, were trapped in the High Sierra by snowstorms in November, and after running out of food ate their dead (most of whom died of natural causes); only 48 of the 88 survived to cross the mountains. Lavender avoids the sensational (as much as that is possible) and provides a clear and concise account in which cannibalism is just one more detail. Readers will come away with a much clearer understanding of the hardships and dangers of crossing the continent by wagon train?any wagon train?in the mid-19th century. The black-and-white photographs and prints are accompanied by informative captions. The author concentrates on the portion of the group who wintered by the lake; it was from these people that attempts to go for help originated. Less attention is given to the Donners themselves, who were trapped in the meadow camp along Alder Creek, but the basic facts are here. This is an excellent addition to existing materials on the westward movement, providing a solid treatment of an event not covered at length in other books for this age group.
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TWELVE LIZARDS LEAPING: A New Twelve Days of Christmas
by Jan Romero Stevens. Great Southwestern color illustrations by Christine Mau. Condition: NEW 2001 Rising Moon soft cover, first printing. Content: This really is a "new" take on the Twelve Days of Christmas: Quail in a Paloverde Tree; Two Prickly Pears; Three Horned Toads; Four Silver Spurs; Five Turquoise Rings; Six Pinatas Swaying; Seven Dancers Swirling; Eight Cowpokes Twirling; Nine Luminarias Gleaming; Ten Tamales Steaming; Eleven Coyotes Creeping; and Twelve Lizards Leaping. Great for Southwestern kids. I love this book! Questions welcome. (1 copy available)
$ 9.49 + $ 3.09 media shipping. [Email for shipping charges on international orders.]

WAY OUT WEST LIVES A COYOTE NAMED FRANK (Fiction)
text and color illustrations by Jillian Lund. Condition: NEW 1993 Puffin soft cover, 7th printing. Content: Distant indigo mesas, golden-brown sand, sun-baked rocks and green cacti suggest the landscape of the American Southwest in this unassuming, beguiling debut. The eponymous Frank, recognizable by his gray fur and orange-patterned bandanna, chases a rabbit and a skunk with his coyote friend Larry, investigates a tortoise and a gila monster, and flirts with a female coyote. The decorative illustrations and minimal, matter-of-fact text share a forthright simplicity (this very directness, in fact, produces a quiet humor), while the easygoing characters and warm earth tones exude affability. Lund takes a coloring-book approach, neatly filling bold black outlines with solid, almost imperceptibly shaded hues. Such occasional details as a horned toad's spots and a smoothly curving rattlesnake's scales break up the art's overall blockiness. Western cliches are put to droll use here, and readers -- particularly the very young--may respond favorably to the uncomplicated images and Frank's playful expressions (especially the mischievous glint in those shifty eyes). Too cool for words! Ages 4-7. [1 copy available]
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