Gold Fever

by Verla Kay

In a brief rhyming story set during the gold rush, Jasper leaves his family and farm for California to pursue his dream of finding gold, but discovers that panning for gold is dirty, backbreaking work.

Genres: Picture Books, Historical Fiction, Childrens, American History, 2nd Grade, Historical

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Verla Kay is passionate about her writing and she loves cooking, playing computer games that have lots of puzzles in them to be solved and she also plays a lot of board, dice and card games with her family and friends (especially pinochle). She lives in a tiny town in eastern Washington, close to Spokane and the Idaho border with her husband of over 55 years and two long-haired Himalayan cats. Family is very important to her and she has four grown children (one married), four grown grandchildren (two married) and five great grandchildren that range in age from six to thirteen, most of whom live within visiting distance from her. She has previously had eleven historical picture books published, ten of them by Putnam. Wings Forever is her first self-published book and she is VERY proud of it! Visit Verla at: https://verlakay.com

Reviews

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Have you ever tried to find picture books that will tie in with a unit on chemistry? Well, I can tell you that it's no easy feat! We were studying the difference between gold and iron pyrite, and I figured that finding a book about fools's gold in the gold rush time couldn't be that hard. Right? Wrong! They're a lot tougher to find than I'd expected. As a result, this book was a disappointment, since it never mentioned fool's gold, but I don't hold it against the book, which was actually pretty decent. The fact that the poor guy left everything behind in hopes of riches and ended up crawling back empty-handed could lead to a very nice discussion on wealth and how much it's really worth. I do, rather, wish there had been more consequences to his choice, but it was still a nice little book, with good illustrations and a pleasant, lilting rhyme.

[Andria Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about the California Gold Rush and a minor that goes to find gold. It is written in short verse rhyme and has a few words of the type of language that was spoken in that time.

This book was ok. It was written in short verse rhyme and so it was easy to understand and it was nice that some of it was written like they talked. The pictures were detailed enough to make the reader understand how the lands looked back then and the different things that may have been experienced while mining for gold. I think if the story was written in actual story form, it would have been a tad bi more interesting.

(Historical Fiction)

[Brittney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was fun and engaging. When a farmer sees a group of men heading west to pan for gold in California, he realizes that he wants to join too. When he begins this journey, he quickly comes to find that it was more work than he anticipated. I really liked the message behind this book about realizing the importance of what you already have. Jasper learned that he shouldn't be greedy and came home to realize that he missed being a farmer. This historical fiction book teaches young children this important lesson, as well as teaching them about the history of the gold rush.

[Valentin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is someone that is basically reading at a second grade level. The illustrations and rhyming words are cool and engaging. The students that are not reading at grade level can read this book independently and they will love it for its simple layout and message.

[Allison Hurd · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book would be a great addition to any teacher teaching about California's gold rush. A simple reader, this book introduces you to a farmer named Jasper. When he see miners headed west, he decides to join them and try to get rich!

[Cala · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun rhyming text tells the story of a man who participated in the Gold Rush, but ultimately came home no richer. Short read aloud that my 5 yo son enjoyed. The illustrations are wonderful and add to the story.

[Danette · Rating 3 out of 5]

9/21/17 Read with Simon

[Dan Blackley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny and fresh, Kay's use of language in her rhyming style has a story about the 49ers.

[Johnny Alves · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great short read book that uses rhyming to grad the young readers attention. The illustrations captures the attention of the reader and leads to the imagination kicking into overdrive.

[Druv · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would want to read this book now! Thank you

[Congetta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great historical fiction book on American History by Verla Kay.

[Kory Bootsma · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story combines rhythmic rhymes, period specific vocabulary, and lush illustrations to show young children that the Gold Rush during the mad 1849 dash was filled with farmers leaving their preconceived "hard life" to strike it rich quickly in the lands of California. Yet these dreams were hardly achieved. Not only did the forty-niners have to travel through frontier lands, they also had to perform labor-intensive gold mining and were in stiff competition with each other. The farmer in this story realizes that the perception of the Gold Rush's "getting rich quick" was terribly misconstrued. Therefore he now returns back to his life of farming, now seen as the "easy life" as compared to the challenges of the Gold Rush.

The illustrations contained within this book are very vibrant and striking and use the full amount of space within the pages, igniting the reader's full attention. Therefore young readers ages 3-8 would adore this historical story. Yet it does use some period-specific vocabulary such as "sleucing" in which young readers may not make the connection from the written word to its' visual counterpart. Yet the overall understanding of the story is not disturbed.

[Pat Marrujo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This tells the story of a man's failed expedition to mine gold in California. He leaves his family and goes west, but he finds nothing but trouble. At the end, he returns home empty handed and sees other hopeful miners going to where he just failed.

Gold Fever is supposed to teach about the gold rush, but the theme is really kind of depressing. I am not sure it totally allows readers to understand the risk the miners were taking by going west. It makes it seem like coming home empty handed was not too big of deal.

[Brian Cave · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book follows a farmer by the name of Jasper and his hopes and dreams of striking it rich in California. Jasper sets off to California to strike it rich by panning for gold. All he has is his shovel, pick, and a bag full of hopes. Jasper soon realizes gold mining isn't as easy as he thought, and maybe farming wasn't so bad after all.

[RPBYS · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short, rhyming verse. Very funny illustrations! A slice of history and a main character who would be relatable even to a child as young as 5-6 years old. (Not owned by RPB; put on hold.)

[Samantha Peterson]

Jasper leaves his family and farm to pursue his dream of finding gold.