A Day that Changed America: Earthquake!

by Shelley Tanaka, David Craig (Illustrator)

On a Peaceful Spring Morning, Disaster Strikes San Francisco.On the early morning of April 19, 1906, the city of San Francisco was struck by a devastating earthquake that crumpled buildings, cracked water mains, broke gas pipes, and sent kerosene lamps flying. Fires quickly engulfed most of the city, leaving exhausted civilians to fight the flames with well water, sewer water, and old rags. Despite valiant rescue efforts, estimates place the death toll at around 3,000.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

48 pages, Hardcover

Published September 1, 2004

Reviews

[Tegan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! I never really knew much about this earthquake before. Well written book with great information, makes me curious to read more about it. VCFA faculty.

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Wednesday, April 18, 1906. It was still dark; most of San Francisco was fast asleep. Yet something was wrong. In the stockyards, a pack of longhorn steer bellowed. In a stable south of Market Street, horses stomped and tossed their heads. A flock of starlings burst out of the trees in Golden Gate Park. And then the ground itself began to heave."

With eyewitness stories, photos and color illustrations, Tanaka brings the great San Francisco earthquake to life. A lively and entertaining account for 8-12 year olds.

[Debra · Rating 3 out of 5]

On a peaceful spring morning in 1906, disaster strikes San Francisco. From the first-hand accounts of children DeWitt Baldwin, Sol Lesser, Hugh Kwong Liang and Doris Depler, we see what they saw, first the earthquake and then the terrible fires that devastated San Francisco that terrible day.