A Pioneer Sampler: The Daily Life of a Pioneer Family in 1840

I loved this book. I read it before I gave it to my daughter. It is a fictional family, but all the information is true to life. Interspersed with the story of the Robertsons, you can learn how to make your own cheese, dip a candle, or learn to tell the time from the sun.This book will add to your library, and is a nice complement to Laura Ingalls Wilders books. Homeschooling familys will enjoy it, I know we did.

The Pioneer SamplerThe Pioneer Sampler is a fun and fascinating book. It tells about a pioneer family. Can Nekeek and Willy catch fish by hand? You'll find out. This is a fun book.I'd give this book a five *...

Barbara Greenwood has written a wonderful book that is as much fun for adults to read to children as it is for the children to read themselves. She doesn't just 'tell' about the Robertson's, she 'shows', drawing the reader into their lives...a pleasant place to be. I especially love Granny's story about how she came to America,on a ship, from Scotland. The book is beautifully illustrated...all the way through...by Heather Collins. The pictures are so well done that, even as an adult, I would like to step into the scene!There are instructions for simple, fun activities such as growing a potato plant, dyeing fabric using an onion, or making a cardboard jumping jack; pioneer games that will even entertain today's children for hours such as shadow shapes or knucklebones; and recipes that are easy for children.Reading this book to a child is a great 'stress releaver'...it's like a little escape from the treadmill of life!!!

I've read many books on pioneer life, and this is by far the best one for children. The book is about the Robertsons, a fictional family living in the west. While the family is fictional, the material is all drawn from real life.The story takes you through a year in their lives, each chapter being its own story. After each chapter, the author provides explanatory material, giving detailed information about events and activities from the story. For example, there is a chapter about the children searching for a bee tree in order to find honey. In the explanatory material following the chapter, the author discusses beekeeping, division of labor among the bees, how the honey is actually made and the importance of honey to the early pioneers.Unlike most books, we found the explanatory material every bit as captivating as the stories. In addition, the author suggests some activities children can do in order to learn more. Yesterday we conducted an experiment to see how the sap in the maple trees resists freezing because of its high sugar content. Today we made butter.All in all, an excellent book. Thumbs up from [this family]

I love using this book in the classroom because of the way it takes each aspect of everyday pioneer living, and provides a non-fiction type short story along with more information about the job, skill, etc., along with an acitivity for the children to do.