The Way West: Journal of a Pioneer Woman, - Softcover

Knight, Amelia Stewart

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0671723758 ISBN 13: 9780671723750

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, 1993

Synopsis

In celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Oregon Trail, this volume contains excerpts from the diary of Amanda Stewart Knight, a pioneer woman who left her home in Iowa in 1853 to go west with her family.

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews:

With her husband and seven children, Knight traveled in 1853 from Iowa to the Oregon Territory. Her terse diary entries create a vivid picture of the journey's challenges (terrible weather, dangerous rivers, bad roads, privation, sickness, accidents) and of a strong pioneer spirit; at the end, the birth of Knight's eighth child near Oregon's Columbia River is the first mention of her pregnancy. In McCurdy's tinted scratchboard illustrations, the pioneers are seen from a low point of view, so that even children and livestock seem larger than life, looming with rugged nobility and solid purpose in a landscape of strong, simple lines--in sharp contrast to Thomas Allen's softened, more intimate scenes for Van Leeuwen's Going West or Mark Graham's romanticized paintings in Pryor's Lottie's Dream (both 1992). First Americans don't come off quite as well here; they beg for food or sell it, collect tolls at fords, and are generally friendly but unpredictable. Schlissel provides a brief introduction concerning the pioneer experience, but unfortunately doesn't discuss the extent of her adaptation. An effective tribute, as far as it goes, to a great enterprise; visually appealing, with historical interest but in need of the kind of careful explanation provided for Marion Russell's memoirs (p. 1079). (Nonfiction/Picture book. 7-10) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Booklist:

Gr. 2-5. McCurdy's attractive artwork, strong woodcuts tinted with watercolor washes, decorates nearly every page of this book, which shows a pioneer family's journey from Iowa to Oregon in 1853. The story is told in "adapted" excerpts from the journal of Amelia Stewart Knight, a wife and mother who looked after her brood of seven children, gave birth to her eighth on the trail, and still found time to write. Although the telling is matter-of-fact, the various discomforts and dangers of the trip become apparent as the tale unfolds: kids get the mumps, everyone gets cold and wet and muddy, oxen go lame, rivers must be crossed with or without bridges, daughter Lucy gets left behind at one point (she's later returned to her family), and son Chat falls out of the wagon and is nearly run over by a wheel. The colorful, rhythmic illustrations dramatize events along the trail. The introduction fills in some details of wagon-train travel, but it omits background information on the diary itself, such as where it was found and how freely it was adapted. Still, teachers seeking materials on the Oregon Trail will find this a lively, useful resource. Carolyn Phelan

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 0671723758
• ISBN 13: 9780671723750
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 40
• Illustrator: McCurdy Michael