(4) K-3 Illustrated by Larry Day. In this fictionalized verse recounting of a Civil War drummer boy's duties, the grim content often seems mismatched to the bouncy tone: "Soldiers shooting, / Rifles aimed, / Bullets buzzing, / Bodies maimed." However, it contains little-known interesting facts, such as the use of hot-air balloons for spying on enemy lines. Detailed illustrations add to the book's historical value.

Reviewer: Lisa Catherine Findlay

(2) K-3 Illustrated by S. D. Schindler. A portrait of a mid-eighteenth-century one-room school is animated by the ongoing feud between brothers Peter and John Paul. Kay's text is minimal, consisting of staccato quatrains: "Girls' side, boys' side, / John in front. / Peter snickers, / 'Yer a runt!'" Schindler's well-composed scenes evoke the period through the characters' dress, the school's minimal appurtenances, and students helping one another learn.

Reviewer: Joanna Rudge Long | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2011

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Kimberly Bulcken Root & Barry Root. "Dashing riders, / Brightly dressed. / Racing swiftly, / East and west." Kay's simple rhyming verse describes the history of mail delivery, highlighting the role of the short-lived Pony Express. Invented letters between siblings add a human perspective and a sense of time and place, while the Roots' watercolor and gouache illustrations bring the Western setting to life. An author's note is appended. Timeline.

Reviewer: Tamara DePasquale

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Adam Gustavson. When Charley Parkhurst died in 1879, people discovered that this surly stagecoach driver was actually a woman. As a man, Charley had journeyed east to California, made a living, and voted--long before women obtained the right. Spare, sometimes abstruse quatrains sketch out Charley's life (no sources are mentioned); appended facts fill in details. Dark paintings skillfully extend the deception.

Reviewer: Luther B. Clegg

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Ken Stark. Short, rhyming verses ("Lines of orphans, / On display. / David chosen, / Pulled away") and sentimental illustrations tell the story of three orphaned siblings who are sent West by orphan train and eventually end up in separate homes. The simple text may be aimed at an audience too young to fully comprehend this chapter in American history. A brief author's note gives historical background.

Reviewer: Pamela McCuen

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Ted Rand. "Mother frowning, / Sarah, tall. / Bodice binding, / Dress, too small." Illustrated with cheerful, realistic watercolors, this story in rhyme follows colonial Sarah through many of her everyday chores, culminating in the day that her work provides her with new clothes. The telegraphic rhymes are sometimes choppy and grammatically muddled, but the portrait of colonial life is accurate and engaging.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Stephen Alcorn. Disconcertingly bouncy rhyming couplets describe the maturation of a Nez Perce boy from an eager child learning to hunt and fish to an anguished young man who has witnessed the decimation of his people and their way of life. The illustrations, polychromatic relief-block prints, provide a moving and memorable complement to the text.

Reviewer: Amy Lois Cohn

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Dan Andreasen. In this story written in strong, rhythmic verse, Kay describes an English family's journey to the New World in 1635. Spare, precise language captures both the drama and hardship of the trip, although the family's new life in America is slightly romanticized. Andreasen's gentle green and blue artwork extend the dramatic mood of the story.

Reviewer: Mary R. Holt

(2) K-3 Illustrated by S. D. Schindler. Life on the trail is a rugged trek for one family in this evocative verse account of the westward movement. Spare quatrains sketch the rigors of the road faced by families traveling from the Midwest to the Sacramento Valley. Schindler handsomely augments the clip-clop rhyme with sweeping vistas and close-up views of the wagons, animals, and people through various stages of the journey. A California Trail map and an author's note provide more information.

Reviewer: Margaret A. Bush | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2001

(2) K-3 Illustrated by S. D. Schindler. Kay uses bits of terse verse to follow the westward trek of young Jasper, who leaves family and farmhouse behind to follow his dreams of gold. His journey ends in futility, but only after readers have seen the toil and trouble of life in the tent town and fields. Schindler's colored pencil drawings convey the rugged scenery and the gritty enterprise of digging and sluicing for gold. Kay's tongue-in-cheek economy beautifully encapsulates this brief, colorful moment in history.

Reviewer: Margaret A. Bush | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 1999

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Michael McCurdy. Huffing, puffing, smoking railroad engines appear majestically in McCurdy's fine scratchboard and watercolor illustrations of the building of the transcontinental railroad. Kay's history lesson is set out in spare lines of verse, which move events briskly along. The book provides a strong, memorable taste that will surely enliven many a social studies lesson.

Reviewer: Margaret A. Bush | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 1999