Kirsten's Story Collection [With Kirsten's Mini Paper Dolls and Scenes]

The special edition of the American Girl books is by far the most beautiful. A beautiful “portrait” of the girl, in this case Kirsten, gold edges, and a fabric bookmark. It includes all 6 books as well as the “family and friends” and historical pages. Kirsten is one of the original three American Girls and is discontinued, therefore collectible, so her books are pricier than many of the others. Definitely invest in the special edition story collection!

My daughter and I have loved reading all of the collections of the historical american girls. It gives us a chance to spend quality time together reading and learning and talking about the events in the lives of the american girls and then relating them to our lives too. We would and do recommend these books to anyone.

My 5-year-old daughter is an early reader and it is sometimes challenging to find stories with content for a 5-year-old that can read at the 8/9-year-old level. My daughter enjoyed reading the Kirstin books and I liked the historical aspect of the story (images, basic storyline -- I read them before I gave them to her to read). However, Kirstin definitely has some character issues. She is disobedient and headstrong, and clearly makes some very bad choices which have pretty serious consequences (although the book shows the consequences, I do not think Kirsten really is held accountable for her actions -- this child almost gets her brother killed and then burns down her house, both through being headstrong or disobedience to direct instructions by her parents; she also considers running away from her family because she doesn't like school). The overall story is not so bad, but you will definitely want to read the book and discuss Kirstin's behavior with your child. I love! this hard back collection although it does not include all of the historical inserts at the end of the individual books (only one smaller historical section at the end of all 5 books). The small American Girl dolls are beautifully made and are a nice "reward" for reading the stories (after my daughter has read and become "friends" with the American Girl, she gets the little doll to play with, a great motivator for continued reading). 3.5 stars for Kirstin. A summary of other American Girl books that we have read that you might be considering buying: The Kaya books were the first of the American Girl books that my daughter read and she loved the stories. From a parental perspective, Kaya does make some bad choices but always with clear consequences and ultimately shows understanding and growth in the end. Reading the Kaya books inspired excited further reading and lots of discussion of that period in American History. 5 stars. Josephina is the best of the American Girl books that we have read. Josephina has to overcome the loss of her mother and shows great character, intelligence, and personal growth throughout the 6 books. Some of the other American Girls make bad decisions without consequences, or are sassy or disobedient to their parents, but there is non of that in Josephina (she is kind, a peace maker among her older sisters, a hard worker, intelligent, yet very realistically portrayed in her fears and trials). Highly recommended reading for impressionable young girls. 5+ Stars! Felicity - Did not like 1st book much at all. Felicity is disobedient and dishonest with almost no consequence for her actions. However, the rest of the books are quite good and give a good picture of the historical period. In the last book Felicity shows better character and it is more clear why the author went in the direction she did with the 1st book (her friend Elizabeth shows even better character and is a good example of how good friends help us grow and give us perspective). Still, it

This is a set of six of the American Girls Short Stories from the series about Kirsten Larson, a nine-year-old girl from Sweden, whose family has moved to frontier Minnesota of 1854. Each of the six little books has a wonderful story, and is richly illustrated. As an added bonus, each book's final chapter is a special section on life and the world as Kirsten would have known them, which is very informative. These really are excellent books. My little daughter loves these books, as she does her Kirsten doll. We both highly recommend them! The six stories are: In Meet Kirsten we are introduced to Kirsten, and travel with her to frontier Minnesota in 1854. In Kirsten Learns a Lesson, Kirsten begins school in America, struggles to learn a new language, and makes a new friend, Singing Bird, a Native-American girl of about Kirsten's age. Kirsten's Surprise tells the story of the Larson's first Christmas in America, the adventure Kirsten has, and the wonderful surprise she has for her family. Happy Birthday, Kirsten! tells us about the hard work that Kirsten must do around the farm, and rewards it brings. We see Kirsten make a wonderful find, and learn a valuable lesson, when Kirsten Saves the Day. And finally, in Changes for Kirsten, little Kirsten tries to help the family's tight money supply, but when she lets her heart overrule her head, she causes more trouble then she ever thought possible.

When I read the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder I was in the fourth grade and just discovering for myself how great it was to lose myself in a good story. At the same time, without even realizing it, I was learning about what it meant to be a pioneer girl in the mid-1800s, back when the American Wild West was largely unsettled and still justified the ?Wild? part. It was a lot less like the cowboy movies than I?d imagined.The American Girl stories must have been created with girls like me in mind. If you are unfamiliar with these books, they are the stories of fictional girls from various eras of American history and geography, each telling a small part of the story of the peoples that made up the character of our nation in the 1700s, 1800s and the first half of the 1900s. Kirsten?s Story Collection is a collection of stories written about Kirsten Larson, a Swedish girl who came over to America with her family in 1854 to be pioneers. Although Kirsten is a fictional person, she is apparently based on a composite of real pioneers of her time and seems very well-researched. Through her eyes we see New York, the Mississippi River on a great riverboat, the Midwest through a pioneer caravan and several small towns along the way. Kirsten meets and befriends other pioneers, farmers and native Americans. She endures hardships with her familiy and struggles to learn English at the Powderkeg School. Always, Kirsten solves her problems with the support of her family and faith in hard work and integrity (those things we call American values).As an adult I read these stories quickly. They are written in a straightforward style suited perfectly for their intended age group of 7+. The themes of family, friendship and adventures are universally appealing and fun even while subtly teaching history to young minds. The morals are wholesome but not based on any specific faith (maybe a little too politically correct in my opinion, but not conspicuously). If I had a daughter I would happily encourage her to read these books. Maybe I?ll keep my copy for my boys.In the tradition of the Little House books, this story collection is nicely illustrated with colored pencil drawings (although by no means could you consider it a picture book ? these are real novels for ages seven and up). I enjoyed having them bound together in a quality hardcover binding as opposed to earlier editions in separate paperback versions. IMHO this would be a great gift book for a young reader, a definite keepsake. -Andrea, aka Merribelle

Joining Kirsten in her travel from Sweden to the United States and then on to the forests of Minnesota has been an enjoyable and interseting experience for both my daughter and I. The pioneer time of our country's history has always been of an interest to me as I have read of my own family's journeys from Hingham England to Massachusetts and then on to Montana during the time of the late 1600's through the early 1800's. What a rich heritage they passed on. And now, my daughter can enjoy learning about the pioneer era with a girl her own age. We have had a great deal of enjoyment reading these books together and discussing what happened to Kirsten in each one. Especially interesting and enlightening are the "Peek Into the Past" sections found at the end of each book. We have had some interesting and lively discussions about what it would be like to live during Kirsten's time. It has been very refreshing to see my daughter and her friends develop a deep interset in these books, role playing the characters, playing with the dolls, and learning about another time rather than pursuing the mindless, empty fluff of many things vying for a young girl's attention. Although some of Kirsten's experiences are a bit far-fetched (I.e. - not fearing a bear, having a pet racoon) the books' intrinsic value is not in the experiences, but rather in the history given in a light, fun way - what better way to learn than by having fun doing it.