The Floating House

by Scott Russell Sanders

It is 1815 and the adventurous McClure family is traveling by flatboat on an exciting journey down the Ohio River. Young Mary and Jonathan watch for sandbars and dangers up ahead, while their parents steer. The boat is loaded with everything the pioneers will need for their new life -- including their nervous horse, cow, pig, and mule. The McClures are eager to reach the country downstream where the rich farmland costs just a dollar an acre and people say you can plant a stick and it will grow. As the brave family journeys toward their future home, readers come along on a vivid trip into the past.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Picture Books, Childrens, Historical, Adventure, Family, 2nd Grade

Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Scott Russell Sanders is the award-winning author of A Private History of Awe, Hunting for Hope, A Conservationist Manifesto, Dancing in Dreamtime, and two dozen other books of fiction, personal narrative, and essays. His father came from a family of cotton farmers in Mississippi, his mother from an immigrant doctor’s family in Chicago. He spent his early childhood in Tennessee and his school years in Ohio, Rhode Island, and Cambridge, England.

In his writing he is concerned with our place in nature, the practice of community, and the search for a spiritual path. He and his wife, Ruth, a biochemist, have reared two children in their hometown of Bloomington, in the hardwood hill country of southern Indiana. You can visit Scott at www.scottrussellsanders.com.

In August 2020, Counterpoint Press will publish his new collection of essays, The Way of Imagination, a reflection on healing and renewal in a time of climate disruption. He is currently at work on a collection of short stories inspired by photographs.

Reviews

[Miranda Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mary, her younger brother Jonathan and her parents are traveling to their new homestead in Indiana...by flatboat. And yes, their flatboat DOES have their horse, cow, pig and mule!

The McClure family has packed all of their possessions (and animals) onto a boat with a flat bottom and are floating down the Ohio River as a way to get to Indiana without having to cross miles and miles of uneven terrain.

Mary and Jonathan have the important job of watching for sandbars and warning their parents of danger. But it's not just dangers in the water they need to be worried about - the children will need to learn to be brave pioneers and help keep everyone safe!

I'm a huge fan of the little house on the prairie books - especially the picture books made based on that series.

So, when I saw that there's a pioneer book set in the early 1800s about a family that floated their way to their new homestead, I couldn't resist!

And I'm so glad I was able to find a copy (I had to special request it from my library!).

I thought it was a cool peek into the past - I haven't read a book about pioneers who simply floated to their homestead before and it was a lot of fun to watch the family work together and rely on each other in order to survive their harrowing journey.

I really liked the realistic nature illustrations in the background and the characters were really nicely drawn as well.

All in all, this one definitely scratched the Laura Ingalls Wilder itch!

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely illustrations. Interesting story about a family moving west down the Ohio River in a flatboat to Homestead.

[Kristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was about a small family who packed everything onto a boat. They set out to look for a new piece of land to settle down on. Using the river they were able to make their dream come true and find a new home. Media: Drawing

[Alyssa Bohon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely shorter picture book in the American pioneer category. For some reason, my childhood exposure to pioneer stories did not include houseboats, so this was fun learning for me, too. The illustrations are lively and realistic - and it has a map.

[Pamela Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic historical fiction for students. A family traverses the Ohio River to a new home in Jeffersonville, IN in 1815. Spurred great conversation with my 3rd-6th grades about the differences in travel between then and now!

[Rani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Floating on a log boat searching for land and new home. Pioneer memories.

#Pioneers #Adventure #settling #America

[Madyson Dalton]

Intriguing story of adventure/ lots of vocabulary and words that need to be thought through before reading to anyone

[Ellie Dynek · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautifully told and wonderfully illustrated book about one family's journey to a new life in the wilds of early America!

[Paige Fulkerson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute historical fiction book. It isn't totally engaging with lots of twists and turns from the plot, but it tells the story of a family who is moving from Pennsylvania to Jeffersonville, IN to buy land in the new states of the USA. This family travels down the Ohio River and the story speaks of all of their adventures on the river!

[ConnieLettow · Rating 5 out of 5]

When the Midwest was opened for settlement after passage of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, the stream of immigrants already leaving the populated eastern states like became a flood of people looking for land in the new territory.
There were no overland roads, just a few rough and dangerous trails through dense forests. And so the Ohio River became their highway, and flatboats their means of transportation.

It's 1815 and the McClure family consisting of mother Birdie, father Wayne, daughter Mary and son Jonathan, traveled with their meager belongings strapped to a flat bed house boat. Starting from Pittsburgh in early spring, the McClures float downstream to Jeffersonville, Indiana, with their horse, cow, pig, mule, farming implements, and household possessions. There, they purchase land and build a house, reusing wood from their boat. The McClure family join numerous other families on an adventurous journey down the Ohio River. They stopped each day to barter, trade, and hunt. They lived on the raft except in the winter, when they lived on it's banks. The McClures patiently waited for winter's end aboard a loaded flatboat by a riverbank in Pittsburgh. Spring thaw makes travel on the river possible again; they set off, looking forward to a new life on fertile land in the territory that was to become Indiana. When they arrive in Jeffersonville, Indiana, they will take their boat apart and use the wood to build their new house. Many children's books recount odysseys of sturdy pioneers traveling west by covered wagon. This is an interesting look at a piece of early westward expansion that is often skipped over in favor of wagon trains along the Oregon trail. It's quite interesting to imagine Indiana as the "frontier" and the Ohio river as the gateway to a new land! This is based on the historical event of families migrating to Indiana and Ohio via the river.
When they arrived from Pennsylvania, previous settlers assisted in working together to frame a house. There is a map of their journey in the front and back.

[Logan Goldberg]

Who has ever moved? Did you just move houses in the same city or did you move to a new city or state? What did you pack and bring with you? (Students respond) What did we learn about packing when moving west? (students respond) That's right, they had to choose wisely what they wanted to bring and what was important enough to bring in their small wagon. Did they bring their house? No? Why not? Do you think it's possible? (Students explain their reasoning) (Show students the cover and title of book) The Floating House! __Student___, when you moved, did you bring your house? So why do you think they decided to bring their house and what do you think happens? What struggles do you think they faced? And do you think they make it? Lets find out!

-Invites personal connections
-Raises questions in listeners' minds
-Foreshadow the problem of the story

I chose this book because it relates to the Oregon Trail books and our westward expansion unit. It is also a funny concept and raises a lot of questions based on the student's background knowledge.

[Linda Lipko · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is based on the historical event of families migrating to Indiana and Ohio via the river. The setting is the early 1800's when the McClure family consisting of mother, father, daughter and son, traveled with their meager belongings strapped to a flat bed house boat. Not only goods, but animals as well inhabited the space.

When they arrived from Pennsylvania, previous settlers assisted in working together to frame a house.
While the book paints the adventure as some what calm, I imagine that in real life, there were plenty of dangers.

[Charlie Moses · Rating 3 out of 5]

Children's picture book. Somehow I expected ... more. More story. It was interesting as is, but having read a novel in which the characters travel by flatboat down the great river to its ending, this book paled in comparison. It was, of course, a book for children, rather than adults. I still want it to be ...more.

[Angie Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting look at a piece of early westward expansion that is often skipped over in favor of wagon trains along the Oregon trail. It's quite interesting to imagine Indiana as the "frontier" and the Ohio river as the gateway to a new land! Nicely done, and definitely recommended for giving children a better view of the big picture of the settling of America.

[Sandybear76 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I purchased the book at the Buckeye Book Fair 2011.

A family from Pennsylvania is on a flat boat to new land in Indiana. The family floated on the river and faced wild animals, and new adventures.

[Kim Foy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of a family's journey down the Ohio River in 1815. They lived on a raft, where they floated down the river, except in the winter, when they lived on it's banks. They would stop each day to barter, trade, and hunt until they finally built a house in Jeffersonville,Indiana.

[Michael Thieme · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very quaint historical fiction. Not too much of substance or really a conflict other than the journey, but I feel like the simplistic slice of life story fits the mood of lazily drifting down a river.

[Cws]

JEPIC-San

[Deb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good to read for historical information. 1800s settling traveling the Ohio River.