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Westward Expansion for Kids
frontier life & pioneer stories
It can be fun but tricky to teach about the westward expansion for kids. The topic is generally pretty fascinating to kids, but they can also have a hard time grasping the tremendous hardships endured and courage required. Below are gripping, kid-friendly books on the westward expansion for kids -- from the Santa Fe Trail and Oregon trail to life on the frontier for children and adults.
The children's books below do a great job of capturing the adventure, hardships, rewards and struggles of life on the pioneer trail. Books for younger children are appropriately more upbeat, and it is not until upper elementary and middle school grades that students begin to read accounts of the terrible hardships and tragedies that some pioneers endured.
Hopefully the pioneer/Oregon Trail history books below will be a good
resource as you plan your unit. Note: The interest age increases as you
move down the page.
Best Books for Teaching
Westward Expansion for Kids
Covered Wagons, Bumpy Trails
by Verla Kay
Kindergarten - 3rd grade
Dandelion
by Eve Bunting
Kindergarten - 3rd grade
Rough, Tough Charley
by Verla Kay
Kindergarten - 3rd grade
Apples to Oregon
by Deborah Hopkinson
Kindergarten - 4th grade
Boss of the Plains
The Hat That Won the West
by Laurie Carlson
Kindergarten - 4th grade
The Adventures of Granny Clearwater & Little Critter
by Kimberly Holt
1st grade - 3rd grade
Great Pioneer Projects
You Can Build Yourself
by Rachel Dickinson
2nd grade - 6th grade
The Quilt-Block History of Pioneer Days
with Projects Kids Can Make
by Mary Cobb
2nd grade - 6th grade
Rachel's Journal
The Story of a Pioneer Girl
by Marissa Moss
3rd grade - 6th grade
Heading West
Life with the Pioneers --21 Activities
by Pat McCarthy
4th grade - 7th grade
Going West
Journey on a Wagon
Train to Settle a Frontier Town
by Carol Johmann
3rd grade - 4th grade
Westward Ho!
An Activity Guide to the Wild West
by Laurie Carlson
3rd grade - 6th grade
Daily Life in a Covered Wagon
by Paul Erickson
3rd grade - 5th grade
A Pioneer Sampler
Daily Life of a Pioneer Family 1840
5th grade - 8th grade
How to Get Rich on the
Oregon Trail
4th grade - 8th grade
chapter books about pioneer life
Meg's Prairie Diary (My America series)
by Kate McMullan
2nd grade - 5th grade
Joshua's Oregon Trail Diary
(My America series)
by Patricia Hermes
2nd grade - 5th grade
American Girl Josefina, 1824
(American Girl Books)
by Valerie Tripp
3rd grade - 5th grade
American Girl Kirsten, 1854
(American Girl Books)
by Janet Shaw
3rd grade - 5th grade
Riddle of the Prairie Bride
(American Girl's History Mysteries)
by Kathryn Reiss
3rd grade - 6th grade
Enemy in the Fort
(American Girl's History Mysteries)
by Sarah Masters Buckey
3rd grade - 5th grade
Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie
The Oregon Trail Diary of Hattie
3rd grade - 7th grade
All the Stars in the Sky
The Santa Fe Trail Diary of Florrie
(Dear America series)
4th grade - 7th grade
Our Only May Amelia
by Jennifer Holm
4th grade & Up
Boston Jane: An Adventure
by Jennifer Holm
4th grade & Up
plus other series books
Boston Jane: The Claim
Boston Jane: Wilderness Days
Caddie Woodlawn
by Carol Ryrie Brink
4th grade - 7th grade
Mr. Tucket
(Tucket Adventures Book 1)
By Gary Paulsen
4th grade - 7th grade
plus other series books:
Tucket's Travels, Call Me Francis
Tucket, Tucket's Ride, Tucket's
Home, and Tucket's Gold
The Journal of Jedediah Barstow
An Emigrant on the Oregon Trail
(My Name is America series)
4th grade - 8th grade
West to a Land of Plenty
Diary of Teresa Angelino Viscardi,
New York to Idaho Territory, 1883
(Dear America series)
4th grade - 8th grade
The Journal of Douglas Allen Deeds
The Donner Party Expedition
(My Name is America series)
5th grade - 8th grade
My Face to the Wind
The Diary of Sarah Jane Price, a Prairie Teacher
by Jim Murphy
5th grade - 8th grade
The Journal of Joshua Loper
A Black Cowboy, The Chisholm Trail (My Name is America)
5th grade - 8th grade
Land of the Buffalo Bones
An English Girl in Minnesota 1873
by Marion Bauer
4th grade - 8th grade
Which Way to the Wild West?
Everything Your Schoolbooks Didn't Tell You About America's Westward Expansion
5th grade - 9th grade
Hattie Big Sky
by Kirby Larson
6th grade - 8th grade
The Legend of Bass Reeves
by Gary Paulsen
6th grade & Up
The Staircase
by Ann Rinaldi
6th grade & Up
In addition to this list about books on the westward expansion for kids, we also have more specific lists set during this era, including lists about the Transcontinental Railroads, the Orphan Trains, and the Gold Rush.
Enjoy the books!
Betsy, Cindy, and Virginia (the teachers/sisters behind this website)
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