Pap finally smiles when his youngest daughter proves to be resourceful and make their new cabin 'homey.' I think they should have been allowed to bring Mam's books and pictures - I'm so tired of parents telling children not to grieve. ( )

This book is about a pioneer family that, after leaving their deceased mother behind, moves on to a new unknown place. When the harsh winter winds come, the youngest daughter, Elvirey, and her brother and sister help to seal up the house to keep out the chill for themselves, their father, and their grandmother. When their father goes out on a hunt and does not return, the children are left in the log cabin that is not as sealed up from the cold as they thought. Using scraps of fabric their grandmother intended on using for a quilt, Elvirey thinks of a very clever way to keep the cold out and in doing so, makes the log cabin a home as her mother would have done. When her father returns, he is filled with joy at what Elvirey has done and for the first time in a long time, speaks of his late wife.
I would recommend this book to young children (approx. ages 6-12) because of its beautiful pictures and sweet story of loss, family, and love. It is very well written and thought out and would likely touch the hearts of anyone who read it. ( )

Elvirey and her family set out in their wagon for the woods of Michigan, Granny insists on bringing along her quilting scraps. She'll be able to sit in her rocker in the new log cabin and piece on a quilt, just as she did back in Carolina. Elvireys Mom died and the family is to not talk about her and leave her things behind. When their dad leaves to hunt one winter night she and her sisters, brother, and grandma stay behind. The night gets colder and they use the quilting scraps to caulk the doors. Her father returns to a bright cabin and smiles thinking of her Mom.
Classroom Extensions:
1) You could use this in a unit about Great Migrations and Frontiers.
2) We could make our own log cabin quilt using a piece of cloth from each child. ( )

Summary
After burying Ma and moving to a new Little House with no dairy, Pa goes out hunting, and seemingly doesn’t come back. Now, with the wind and snow roarin’ mighty fierce, how are the kids (and Gramma) gonna stay warm till pa comes back?

Personal Opine
A cute story that shows a nice picture of pioneer life and surprisingly opens with a death. A mother death, no less. It’s a passable story, with nice art to help it along.

Class extension ideas
1. Have a discussion with the kids bout pioneer life, and how dangers it was.
2. Have each kid draw a quilt patch however they like. Then assemble the quilt on the wall with all the patches! ( )

The Log Cabin Quilt is a popular quilt block stitched to represent a log cabin. In this book, the cabin represents the quilt! This story is set in the time of westward expansion, most likely near the time of the 1787, when the Northwest Ordinance was signed. It depits a family that looses their mother, and their father moves the family of 3 children and a grandmother to Michigan. The reader experiences the move through the eyes of the youngest girl, from leaving behind her mom's books to walking to save her teeth. As fall settles in, they reach the spot of thier new home, an open field in a forest next to a stream. The winter is harsh, colder than they are used to, and the story tells of how the family builds a cabin and adjusts to the new life.

I like the simplicity of this book for it's ease of reading although it's mostly didatic writing. This does accurately depict the harshness of westward expansion and how families left so much behind them for a new beginning. I like the mild suspense, and the happy ending.

This is a great classroom resource book to read for a Pioneer unit that depicts realities of life then. Several activites come to mind, including a classroom quilt project! Smalls scraps of material can be brought in for students to learn to hand-sew them together, making a larger quilt. The quilt can be displayed in the class to show their hard work, or could be left in the reading corner to sit under and read. (As a side note, it could be auctioned off, the the class agrees, to raise money for a fieldtrip or classroom materials for them.) If sewing isn't an option, students can use colored paper as an art lesson to decorate their quilt squares and then they can be glued together for a large square. A unique display idea is to place each square in a ziploc bag and then connect all the bags together by tying them or using small jump rings. This can be hung as a "wall" that can divide space and be viewed on both sides. ( )