Meet the Robertsons, a pioneer family living on a backwoods farm. Their story begins in spring, when the hardships of winter are over and new chores are beginning. Readers follow the Robertson family through the year, until winter closes around them. Factual information and highly detailed drawings of daily life accompany each story and expand on what children have just read. This book is a comprehensive classroom resource.
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What was it like to be a child in pioneer days? You'll find out in Barbara Greenwood's A Pioneer Story when you meet 10-year-old Sarah Robertson and her younger brother Willy, who live on a backwoods farm in eastern Canada in 1840. A Pioneer Story chronicles a year in their family's life through a series of short stories, each detailing an aspect of life as it was lived over a century and a half ago: maple sugaring, following a beeline to a honey tree, getting lost in the woods, going to school, raising baby animals, and escaping the teeth and claws of some of the grown-up ones.
The stories are written with great empathy and charm, and Greenwood's love of Canada's past is obvious on every page. Children will have much to relate to, right down to the squabbles that siblings of all ages and times get themselves into. Each story is augmented by a wealth of related material and beautifully illustrated with black-and-white drawings by Heather Collins. Hands-on activities allow kids to experience pioneer life while having lots of creative fun at the same time. And the research doesn't only bring back the past: parts of the book, which won the Ruth Schwartz Award and the Mr. Christie's Book Award, could easily be used as a backwoods survival manual today. (Ages 8 to 12) --Martha Johnson
About the Author
Barbara Greenwood is an award-winning author whose books include Gold Rush Fever, The Last Safe House and A Pioneer Thanksgiving. She lives in Toronto, Ontario.
Heather Collins has been illustrating children's books for more than 20 years. Her body of work includes many nonfiction books, such as the award-winning A Pioneer Story and Out Came the Sun. She lives in Toronto, Ontario, with her husband and two children.
Heather Collins has been illustrating children's books for more than 20 years. Her body of work includes many nonfiction books, such as the award-winning A Pioneer Story and Out Came the Sun. She lives in Toronto, Ontario, with her husband and two children.
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Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Reason for Reading: Read aloud to the 9yo as part of our history curriculum.
Comments: Follows the daily life of a pioneer family, the Robertsons, living on a backwoods farm in Southern Ontario in 1840 from spring to New Years. Along with Ma and Pa, the family consists of two elder children (brother & sister), two younger children (brother & sister), a baby and Granny from Scotland. Told in the third person, the story is given alternately from the younger sister and brother's points of view making the book accessible to both boys and girls. The story itself is very quaint and charming, told in episodic format and can be compared to one of the early Laura Ingalls Wilder books. The illustrations are very detailed drawings done in dark brown and sepia tones; very complimentary to the text.
What makes this book a little extra special is that between each chapter is a non-fiction section which describes some of the topics brought up in the story such as maple sugaring, shearing sheep, house raising, threshing, guns, the traveling preacher, etc. Also in this section are crafts to make using either pioneer techniques or making items similar to what the pioneers used. These are simple to do but will take a trip to the store to purchase not necessarily just laying around the house items.
An excellent book. This is the second time I've read it and it is one of the better Canadian history books out there. Thankfully the publishers recognise this also and have kept this book in print for so long, not an easy feat for a Canadian kids' history book. Certainly worth buying if you have more than one child and a must for a homeschool library. There are two sequels which follow the Robertsons through the holidays:
A Pioneer Thanksgiving
A Pioneer Christmas
The book has also been given an American work over (the setting has simply been changed to upstate New York and any Canadian references and spelling Americanized) and a new title A Pioneer Sampler: The Daily Life of a Pioneer Family in 1840.
Recommended!
Comments: Follows the daily life of a pioneer family, the Robertsons, living on a backwoods farm in Southern Ontario in 1840 from spring to New Years. Along with Ma and Pa, the family consists of two elder children (brother & sister), two younger children (brother & sister), a baby and Granny from Scotland. Told in the third person, the story is given alternately from the younger sister and brother's points of view making the book accessible to both boys and girls. The story itself is very quaint and charming, told in episodic format and can be compared to one of the early Laura Ingalls Wilder books. The illustrations are very detailed drawings done in dark brown and sepia tones; very complimentary to the text.
What makes this book a little extra special is that between each chapter is a non-fiction section which describes some of the topics brought up in the story such as maple sugaring, shearing sheep, house raising, threshing, guns, the traveling preacher, etc. Also in this section are crafts to make using either pioneer techniques or making items similar to what the pioneers used. These are simple to do but will take a trip to the store to purchase not necessarily just laying around the house items.
An excellent book. This is the second time I've read it and it is one of the better Canadian history books out there. Thankfully the publishers recognise this also and have kept this book in print for so long, not an easy feat for a Canadian kids' history book. Certainly worth buying if you have more than one child and a must for a homeschool library. There are two sequels which follow the Robertsons through the holidays:
A Pioneer Thanksgiving
A Pioneer Christmas
The book has also been given an American work over (the setting has simply been changed to upstate New York and any Canadian references and spelling Americanized) and a new title A Pioneer Sampler: The Daily Life of a Pioneer Family in 1840.
Recommended!
By R. Mawhorter
Format:Paperback
I highly recommend this book for young readers. I am currently homeschooling my children. They really enjoyed using this book to learn how the pioneers once lived. Historical fiction is much more engaging than straight non-fiction but the non-fiction sections that were sprinkled throughout the narrative of this book cleverly filled in the gaps of knowledge that would have plot halting to if it had been added to the narrative. When we were finished this book my children wanted to know if there were more stories to read about the Robertson family.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars
1 review
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great book on early pioneer life
May 3 2012
By Joyce Derenas
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This was a great book, and explained how people managed to survive before small hamlets or towns were formed. I loved it.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
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