Welcome to Kirsten's World, 1854: Growing Up in Pioneer America

The inside pages were fine but I had to scrub the outside because there was a brown sticky substance all over the cover. It was dirty and the cover also had rips. For $30 in "good" condition, I expected better

This delightful book is part of the American Girls Kirsten series, and focuses on what life would have been like for Kirsten Larson, a young girl who immigrated from Sweden. The book is large, and lavishly illustrated, with many colorful drawings and interesting pictures. The book isn't a story book, unlike the other books in the Kirsten story. Instead, it put the Kirsten stories in their context within history. Everything is covered from leaving Sweden, through immigration into the United States, life on the Plains, and Native Americans. This is a very nice book, one that is highly informative and a real good resource for those young readers who love the Kirsten stories. I highly recommend it.

This is a wonderful book that introduces children to history in a simple and interesting way. As a teacher, I would highly recommend it. It offers a mixture of photographs, drawings and text. I personally liked the back and forth style of the book. I think the point is to show how that the lives of the pioneers and Native Americans were definitely connected as well as to illustrate how their lives compared and contrasted. The format makes it very user friendly.

Whether you are a fan of the American Girls Collection or not, this book is historically accurate and delightful. The story tracks Kirsten's family's journey from Sweeden to the New World using primary source documents like photographs, newspaper articles, letters, and artifacts. Gathered together like a museum exhibit, the information is layered so that readers of different ages and interest levels can engage in Kirsten's life on the prairie, where she lives in a sod dugout and interacts with the local Native Americans and settlers from all over the world. This is a great book for in the classroom or in the home!