This story was about a family moving to better land. This book would be great to compare to today's world how easy we have it now. Covered wagons, horses, hunting, gardening, building things: it was just alot harder in those days it seems. Everyone in the family had to help and pitch in, in some way or another. Dad did the hunting for food, traveling and finding materials to build things like their house. Mom did the cooking, gardening, watching the children. The children picked berries and got water for washing and did their lessons. This story is a great lesson of history. ( )

Going West is about a family (American Pioneers) moving west in hopes of a better life and farming. It shows the challenges they faced in their first year in the American West and how no matter where you go and are when you have family anyplace can feel at home. This book is great for Pre-k -2nd grade and would be good to read when teaching about how people lived in old day America and to compare today's day and age with back then. ( )

Summary:
This book is about a family moving west hoping for better farming. There are two parents and 3 kids. They all only took the things they needed. It was a challenging trip for the family and it took a long time. They finally got West and started building their home and they loved it. The weather was harsher than they expected but the ground was good for farming. Once the harsh winter passed they began farming again and also started having neighbors.

Personal Reaction:
I liked this book because it seemed pretty accurate about the time period.

Classroom Extension:
1. This book would make a good lesson for how traveling was back then.
2. This would make for a good lesson about family helping you through everything.

Summary:
This historical story is about a family traveling west in the hopes of great farming opportunities. Their family consists of five members, two parents and three kids. They left behind a lot of their things and only took there necessities so that everyone and all their things could fit in the wagon. The trip there took a long time and they faced some challenges and mixed emotions along the way. When they finally reached the West they immediately started building their new home. The all loved having a place they could call home again. The ground was great for farming but the weather was a lot harsher than what they were used to. The winter definitely wasn't what they were used to. After the snow and such started to lift up they started right back up at farming again. The also began to have new neighbors.

Personal Reaction:
I thought this story seemed like a pretty good depiction of a family going West. The only thing I personally didn't like about the book was the illustrations they were very grainy and thinking back to how I was a kid I like the pictures to be a little clearer.

Classroom Extension Ideas:
1. This story would make for a nice geography lesson about cardinal directions.
2. A good story to show that you don't need a bunch of toys or technology or anything to have fun.
3. This story would make for a good lesson on farming and we could start a class project to grow something together.

Hannah and her family are traveling west to start over again. A long and treacherous journey leads them to their new home. ( )