This book is a good example of Historical Fiction because it has a fictional plot of a family that also includes historical facts about moving west in wagons to Oregon. The plot is strong and engaging. The majority of the plot is man vs nature because they fight against the elements to live on the soil and then decide to move west in a covered wagon and face many more difficulties against the weather and the terrain. This book illustrates well what it might be like to travel the Oregon Trail.
Media Used: Watercolor
Age Appropriateness: Primary and Intermediate ( )

This book is a good example of a historical fiction because the story is about an imaginative tale of a girl and her family traveling west to Oregon but it reflects historical facts about the Oregon Trail and the issues that faced the people who traveled the harsh roads in their wagons. They had low amounts of food and ran into natives along the way. The story’s setting takes place back in 1850 during the time where people were heading west to Oregon. The people had little money but strong spirits to find freedom in the west. They traveled on wagons and suffered many hardships on the way like traveling over water and running into Native Americans. The Oregon lands were filled with opportunity, better land and jobs available. Age appropriate: intermediate. Media: acrylics. ( )

Critique:
Genre: This story attempts to represent an example of what a family would struggle with while traveling on the Oregon Trail. The book is not detailed enough to explain the realistic hardships that people had to go through. However, it is a good book to start young students out with without giving too many gruesome details of what happened on the Oregon Trail and how many people died along the way.
Setting: The setting is vital to this story because it follows the trail to Oregon. The time period is set during the pioneer days in the 1850's when many people were taking the Oregon Trail west. The setting describes the plains and rivers that the Americans have to travel through. If the setting was any different, the story would not make sense.
Media: watercolor ( )