In my ever-growing lists of living books we are now up to the late 1800s (i.e. post-Civil War). We are including in this period pioneers and the settlement of the west. Some topics which span the turn of the century, including industrialization and immigration, will be saved for the early 1900s list.
Living Books on the late 1800s
Reconstruction
Robinet, Harriette. Forty Acres and Maybe a Mule. Middle years.
Taylor, Mildred. The Land. Book 1 of the Logan family saga. Middle years.
Werstein, Irving. This Wounded Land. Middle years-teens.
California Gold Rush
deClements, Barthe. Bite of the Gold Bug. Elementary.
Roop, Connie. California Gold Rush. Elementary.
The Pony Express (1860-1861)
Bulla, Clyde Robert. Riding the Pony Express. Elementary.
Coerr, Eleanor. Buffalo Bill and the Pony Express. Elementary.
Great Chicago Fire (1871)
Hoffer, Peter Charles. Seven Fires: The Urban Infernos that Reshaped America. Teens.
Quackenbush, Robert. They’ll be a hot time… Elementary.
NYC Blizzard of 1888
Stevens, Carla. Anna Grandpa and the Big Storm. Elementary.
Chicago World’s Fair (1893)
Lawson, Robert. The Great Wheel. Elementary.
Peck, Richard. Fair Weather. Middle years.
Blizzard of 1896
Bird, E.J. Blizzard of 1896. Middle years (?).
Spanish American War (1898)
Marrin, Albert. The Spanish-American War. Teens.
Werstein, Irving. 1898: Spanish American War. Middle-teens.
Presidents
Lomask, Milton. Andy Johnson (1865-1869). I really like this older author. Middle-teens.
Venezia, Mike. Venezia has a series of humorous books on the presidents. Elementary.
Pioneers & Pioneer Life
Avi. Prairie School. Elementary (?).
Brinks, Carol Ryrie. Caddie Woodlawn. Don’t miss the sequels too. Elementary-middle.
Bunting, Eve. Dandelions and Train to Somewhere. Elementary. (re orphan trains). Lovely picture books. Elementary.
Cather, Willa. O Pioneers and My Antonia. I love Cather. Teens.
Caudill, Rebecca. Tree of Freedom. Elementary (?).
Coatsworth, Elizabeth. Sod House. Elementary.
Coerr, Eleanor. Josefina Story Quilt. Easy reader. Elementary.
DeFelice, Cynthia. Weasel (series). We listened to the first one and found it a little freaky so not for the timid child. Middle years.
Fleming, Alice. King of Prussia and a Peanut Butter Sandwich. Russian immigrants make their way to Kansas. Elementary.
Fritz, Jean. Cabin Faced West. Middle years.
Gregory, Kristiana. Legend of Jimmy Spoon. Middle years.
Hays, Wilma Pitchford. Trouble at Otter Creek. Elementary.
Holm, Jennifer. Our Only May Amelia and Boston Jane (series). May Amelia is set in Washington state in 1899. Middle years.
Larson, Kirby. Hattie Big Sky (series). We loved these. Middle years.
MacLauchlan, Patricia. Sarah, Plain and Tall. Check out the rest in the series as well. Elementary-middle.
Rounds, Glen. Sod Houses on the Great Plains. Elementary.
Steele, William O. This favorite author has lots of books on pioneer and Native American life that will appeal to boys. Some are: Flaming Arrows, Winter Danger, Westward Adventure, Buffalo Knife and Wilderness Journey. Middle years.
Stein, R. Conrad. Story of the Homestead Act. From the wonderful Cornerstones of history series. Look for the older books whose titles start “Story of” NOT the newer ones. Elementary.
Turner, Ann. Grasshopper Summer (A plague of locusts hits the prairie) and Dakota Dugout. Elementary.
Whelan, Gloria. Next Spring an Oriole. Easy reader. Elementary.
Wilder, Laura Ingalls. Little House on the Prairie (series). Little House in the Big Woods is a fairly easy read. Elementary-Middle.
Yates, Elizabeth. Carolina’s Courage. Elementary.
Cowboys and Such
Dewey, Ariane. Narrow Escapes of Davy Crockett. Tall tales. Elementary.
Fritz, Jean. Make way for Sam Houston. Elementary.
Holling, Holling C. The Book of Cowboys. Elementary.
Hurley, William. Dan Frontier. A Davy Crockett type character. Elementary.
James, Will. Smokey the Cow Horse. My librarian was very excited about this one. elementary (?).
Miers, Earl Schenck. Wild and Woolly West. A wonderful older author if you can find him. Middle years (?).
Marrin, Albert. Cowboys, Indians and Gunfighters and War Clouds in the West (re Native Americans and cavalrymen). Marrin is a favorite author. Middle-teens.
Quackenbush, Robert. Quit Pulling My Leg. Re Davy Crockett. Elementary.
Rounds, Glen. Cowboys. Early elementary.
Silverberg, Robert, Ghost Towns of the American West. Teens.
Steele, William O. Story of Daniel Boone. Elementary (?).
Steig, Jeanne. Tales from Gizzard’s Grill. Poetic. Elementary.
Werstein, Irving. Marshall without a Gun. Middle years-teens.
General/Miscellaneous
Dalgliesh, Alice. Bears on Hemlock Mountain. Elementary.
Glubok, Shirley. Art of America in the Gilded Age. Elementary-middle.
Marrin, Albert. Saving the Buffalo. Middle years.
North, Sterling. Wolfling. Middle years.
Roop, Connie. Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie. Lighthouse keeper. Elementary.
Twain, Mark. Life on the Mississippi. There is also an abridged version called The Boy’s Ambition. Middle-teens.
Whelan, Gloria. Wanigan. Life of a girl in timber country on Lake Huron in 1878. Middle years.
Yolen, Jane. Mary Celeste. Shipwreck in 1872. Elementary.
Happy reading!