The California Missions

My youngster came across this book in the course of doing a fourth grade missions project, and it has proven to be a great resource. The book provides a modern, concise overview in language a fourth grader can understand. The book does not sugarcoat the heartbreaking realities of the mission system: the collision of Spanish and Native Californian cultures and the decimation and demoralization of native populations. In fact, some readers expecting a more romantic view may be turned off by this history. We are currently using this book along with "The California Missions" by Monsignor Francis J. Weber (a lavishly-illustrated, detailed book that presents a much rosier picture of the missions). We are finding the two books fill most of our research needs, as well as providing interesting family reading.