You Wouldn't Want to Be an American Pioneer! (Revised Edition)

You Wouldn't Want to Be ...

by Jacqueline Morley, David Antram (Illustrator)

As a struggling farmer on the East Coast of America, you've heard that there are fortunes to be made out West. But first you have to get there-are you tough enough to survive months on the trail, with little to eat and only your wagon for shelter? This interactive series will enthrall young and reluctant readers (Ages 8-12) by making them part of the story, inviting them to become the main character. Each book uses humorous illustrations to depict the sometimes dark and horrific side of life during important eras in history.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Childrens, American History, Picture Books, Education, American

32 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2002

About the author

Jacqueline Morley studied English at Oxford University and has taught English and History. She is the author of numerous books, including award-winning historical nonfiction titles for children. Her books have won several TES Senior Information book awards.

Reviews

[Elisabeth Ensor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book but the perspective was a little negative. You wonder how anyone could have been a pioneer from the way it’s written.

[寿理 宮本 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yet another version of The Oregon Trail, but without everyone's favourite "You died of dysentery."

On the whole, it isn't a BAD chronicle of that time period, and it definitely highlights the problems they went through at the time without romanticising the freedom and independence of being a pioneer—far from it, on the trail you're at the mercy of the elements and forced to go along with the wagon train (assuming you started as a farmer, which was highly likely).

My complaints about this are
- the typeface is TERRIBLE (the one used for the cover), and it's not very easy on the eyes
- the indigenous people are called Indians EVEN THOUGH YES I know it's written from the point of view of the pioneers and there's a glossary item indicating that's what they used to be called, but also
- the indigenous people are portrayed largely as bullies who steal your stuff or charge through the nose for invading their territory (not that I blame them if they in fact did, but again, the whole "pioneers portrayed Indians as barbarians who will rob you blind if you so much as look at them funny" thing)

Okay for convincing a younger reader NOT to travel back in time to try to head west on their own, I suppose. I just would have preferred some small tweaks to the text.

[Dale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Illustrations by David Antram

As a history teacher, I think just about all of history is fascinating - the cultural tidbits, the technology, the religious beliefs, the wars, the governments. It's all fascinating! But...convincing my students is another matter entirely.

This series does an excellent job of looking at history from an interesting point of view and showing why it was tough. The art is accessible and just cartoonish enough to not be one of those boring illustrations that fill history books and plenty realistic enough that to clearly see and understand what is going on.

This series has dozens and dozens of books. This book is about the Oregon and tells all about the trials and tribulations that a pioneer might have come across - everything from river crossings, weather, Pawnees, high priced supplies, the death of the oxen and more.

Fantastic for a classroom library. Great for budding history buffs.

I rate this book 4 stars out of 5.

https://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/2019...

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Oregon Trail journey IN DEPTH. If your kid has never played the Oregon Trail, or even if you're an adult who studied it in school or played the game, this book still gives new information about the trials and tribulations faced.
It talks about Independence being the big stop in the Midwest, talks about the trappers and scouts as your guides, the different types of diseases, dust storms, various native American tribes and how that worked, the reality of those who actually made it to Oregon, etc.

[Naima · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bercerita tentang penjelajah dari pantai timur ke pantai barat amerika. benar2 perjuangan yang luar biasa berat. Aku meminjamnya karena bacaan laura dan little house nya itu. Digambarkan dengan kocak walaupun ceritanya tidaklah lucu sehingga yang membaca tidak tegang.

[Patricia McCowan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very fun book about the Oregon Trail. The book is set up as a guide for someone wanting to be a pioneer with information to follow as if you were going to start your journey. The illustrations are very fun and eye catching making this book more interesting to students. The language is a bit more advanced simply because of the vocabulary specific to the Oregon Trail but the images help decode the words.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did not enjoy the comic style of the book due to the nature of the subject matter, but my kids did so I guess you go with it. It did cover a lot of material and made the point that pioneering was hard work. My 5yo son enjoyed it.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this is a children's book it is a wonderful one for adults to think through. I loved the wacky illustrations used to convey the truth of the miracle that this country ever got settled given the conditions of traveling across an unknown land. Very well done.

[Olu]

I do not like this book. And that is why I am telling you. The end of the book has people chopping trees and building houses.

[Adam T. Calvert · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun look at pioneer life. Love the illustrations!

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun pictures and interesting facts but a bit chaotic and I can only imagine our ancestors being disappointed in the whining.

[Kaseka · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting overview--with funny, quirky illustrations by Antram--of the American pioneer's journey from leaving home to arriving at the chosen settlement. I picked this up because Julia Cameron (author of The Artist's Way) suggests reading children's books on topics you're curious about, both to learn the basics and to see if they whet your appetite to go deeper into the subject.

You Wouldn't Want to be an American Pioneer lives up to its name, as every page contains factoids of potentially fatal pitfalls along the typical pioneer's journey. I was surprised the book didn't list any real upsides to pioneering, even at its conclusion (which came rather abruptly). Completing such a hard, dangerous journey, only to have to build a house to live in immediately upon arrival (and this while starting the grueling work of felling forests for farm land) makes the "lifetime of hard work" (p29) that pioneers had to look forward to seem an unsatisfying ending both for pioneers and readers. While this does support the book title, it makes pioneers seem foolish for setting off at all; though we are told a few reasons pre-journey for heading west, by the time the book ends, all positive outcomes for the journey seem distant as the lives the pioneers have left behind.

Perhaps that's just me wanting to paint pioneers in a heroic, golden light though, which has nothing to do with the premise of this book. Writer Jacqueline Morley did what she set out to do: she convinced me I wouldn't want to be an American pioneer, while tracing the pioneer's steps and keeping me entertained through judicious use of facts, and illustrations by David Antram. A fun book.

[Beth Maline]

This book is a hoot! It is full of light humor, funny pictures, and unlikely set of hand drawn characters, horses that aren’t as scared of hauling all that furniture and all those people as they should be to look in a mirror (they just look frightful or frightened or a combination of both).

There is lots of useful (NOT) advice in this story, that is set up like a how-to manual for those driving west in a wagon. It covers ‘Mealtimes – feeling queasy’ with the pioneer woman cooking in a barrel while the description includes how insects drop into dinner; ‘Sink or Swim river crossings’ with all the household goods on their side as the covered wagon goes swimming; and ‘Done in and Done for’ which kind of says it all.

This is a great book for a mid-elementary school child with a great sense of adventure, and a sense of humor to match. It outlines all the factual elements in a humorous (satirical, really) form, and can be picked up again and again because you find something new and amazing (aka scary) every time!!!

And the end of the book lists famous pioneers, like Lewis and Clark, Daniel Boone, and John Charles Fremont (which I just loved, because I live in Fremont about a block from a statue of John C. Fremont!!!)

Worth a look just for the fun of it, and the drawings are so funny, this could almost be a comic book … maybe it really is. And it makes you think more seriously about how those stubborn pioneers did make it through what they did – this was a hard life, make no mistake about it!

Morley, J., Antram, D., & Salariya, D. (2002). You wouldn't want to be an
American pioneer!: a wilderness you'd rather not tame. New York: Franklin Watts.

[Gabby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought the book You Wouldn’t Want to be an American Pioneer was great! It follows a family on their journey to Oregon as part of a wagon train. As the book goes along, it describes the hardships the pioneers faced through the plains, such as encounters with Native American tribes, crossing rivers and mountains, and what families had to do to survive, like boiling their own leather boots. It gives information in a fun way that students would enjoy, instead of in a simple textbook format. The pictures are fantastic and most of them are pretty funny, also. Because of these reasons, I think that students would really have a grasp on this book and they would find it to be very appealing, along with the other titles in this series. It is a great learning tool to convey information about the hardships the American Pioneers faced to students in a way that they would easily understand and have fun with. It also had many facts that went into great detail students would find to be pretty cool to know. This book would probably work best for middle elementary grades. There are some pictures and facts that could be considered gross or graphic, and suitable for a more mature audience than kindergarteners or first graders.

Morley, J., Antram, D., & Salariya, D. (2002). You wouldn't want to be
an American pioneer!: a wilderness you'd rather not tame. New York: Franklin Watts.

[Irene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary:
In "You Wouldn't Want to Be an American Pioneer!: A Wilderness You'd Rather Not Tame," Jacqueline Morley gives fun facts to children and really convinces readers that they never would wish to be a pioneer like those who traveled west. Fear of Native Americans, the hard work of building a house, danger at every turn, and many more adventures will leave students in awe as to how the pioneers made it through their journeys!

Review:
Audience: I would use this book for children from first to fourth grade depending on their reading level.

Appeal: This book is marvelous because it is giving factual knowledge with funny pictures, and putting a more creative spin on a history lesson. It is more exciting for children to gather information by reading this book then by hearing a lecture or reading from a standard text-book.

Implementation: I would have students get together in groups to read this book and discuss amongst themselves what they would have done in some of the scenarios featured in this book. It would be interesting to hear how the students would have coped in these pioneer situations.

Citation:
Morley, J., & Antram, D. (2013). You wouldn't want to be an American pioneer!: a wilderness you'd rather not tame (Franklin Watts library ed., Rev. ed.). New York: Franklin Watts.

[Jenny Christen · Rating 4 out of 5]

1. Rescue on the Oregon Trail by Kate Messner (2015)

2. I paired these pieces together because they both represent the pioneer's voyage along the Oregon Trail as they were traveling to settle West. They both describe what it was like to be a pioneer and how students can relate to the journey as if they were a child along the trail. It allows them to connect to their lives and realize how hard it was to actually be a pioneer along the trail. Ranger on the Oregon Trail is book one in a series of the story of a dog who was trained as a search and rescue dog that gets easily distracted. He does meet up with a boy along the trail who is migrating West with his family, just as the You Wouldn't Want to Be an American Pioneer book explains as a pioneer would feel along the trail.

3. The book tells about the lives of American Pioneers and what they had to go through as they traveled West. It uses a chronological sequence to explain what happened and in what order.

4. I would use 'description' with students to have them retell how the characteristics of Rescue on the Oregon Trail are similar to You Wouldn't Want to Be an American Pioneer. To do this, I would have students use text tagging (i.e. using symbols to tag things like descriptive adjectives of the characters/pioneers, transition words used, hardships faced, etc).

[Christy Cryer]

Opening: Today, we are going to read You Wouldn’t Want to Be an American Pioneer! A Wilderness You’d Rather Not Tame by Jacqueline Morley and illustrated by David Antram. What do you think this book might be about? (Show cover.) During the 1800s, many people called pioneers traveled across the country and they were called pioneers. This book also has a several features that help us better understand such as a timeline, maps, and many different captions. Why do you think the author might have included these?

Opening moves: make predictions based on the title, Build background knowledge, and draw attention to tools and text features

Rationale: I chose this book because it was an interesting blend of humor and information. While it is entirely factual, there is a lot of humor interspersed that will keep students engaged as they listen for information. A large part of our Nebraska History curriculum focuses on the settling of Nebraska and the trails. This book could provide good background during this part of the unit.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

While this series is handy for getting younger kids interested in history, in particular many of the American history selections have inaccuracies or biases in them that are best squashed early on and not left for later. Books can be used to discuss these biases, such as calling Native American's "Indians". And talking about why they were attacking pioneers as they moved West is important and not addressed in the book.

[Duane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always enjoyed this series of books and this book keeps the ratings steady. Following a family as they travel west, you see the struggles and adventures they encounter as they travel by wagon through mountains, rivers and plains. Filled with awesome illustrations and wonderful humor, this book will appeal to any gender and age. A great addition to anyones library collection.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

not the story of a specific person as in the others in the series i've read. v. good, interesting, discouraging as hell. really glad they didn't sell this book in Independence in the 1800s. the art is a lot of fun.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another interesting book from this series. This would work well in a classroom of 4-6 grade where the students are studying Nebraska history or American history (with the Oregon trail). Engaging and informative.

[Knischansr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellant illustrations, the illustrations make the book

[Brittany Harrington · Rating 4 out of 5]

When reading this book, it reminded me so much of the old computer game "Oregon Trail". All kids should have the pleasure of reading this book and playing the game.

[Tessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great one from the you-wouldn't-want-to-be folks!

[Mona · Rating 5 out of 5]

Non fiction-Historical info. presented in a silly, but informative format. Funny illustrations.

[Kelly Carey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book made me want to go play Oregon Trail and ford the river.

[Robyn Klepfer · Rating 4 out of 5]

My kids really enjoyed it and wanted to read more of this series. I also learned information along the way that I never knew before.

[Timothy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the humor in history it gives