Dust for Dinner

Children will enjoy the books in this series, build reading skills, expand vocabulary, and learn about history all together while reading these books! The illustrations are good as well. We loved them all and read them more than once. You could add these to a study of American history for young kids and make the curriculum more interesting.

I featured this book in my 4th grade class's unit on "How We Came to California." It was the best book that told about the journey of many families to the Golden State during the Dust Bowl Days because it included why they left, how they came and the struggle once they got here. To make it even more special, my grandmother came to read it to the students because she lived in CA during this time and helped the people who came to her town from Oaklahoma and Kansas. Having an elder read it to the kids was the most memorable thing to many of the kids who simply did not know about this period of their family's history.

Gradeschool children who read this story identified with the story characters. Students went away with appreciation for this time in American History. It was easy to read and informative. It made many students realize how fortunate they are.