Not long ago we were in San Francisco listening to a presentation on local history. Even though I am a native Californian, I must have slept through the history lessons in class. The discussion prompted me to check out a few books from the library, all of them children’s books. I confess I don’t usually enjoy the history books written for grown ups, and I usually don’t finish them. But kids books? Easy peasy.
Here’s a couple I read recently:
My GoodReads Review
This children’s book is a potpourri of facts about the Gold Rush. There are some social commentaries thrown in as if they were facts, but not enough to taint the book completely.
Interesting photos and timelines are included. The book is not very colorful, as it is done in sepia and lighter yellow tones.
If giving this to a kid to read, the kid will either need to be writing a report for school, or be extremely interested in facts related to that era.
I gave the book a three star review.
Here’s my brief GoodReads Review
Good art and an interesting story. When my 10 year old read it, she told me she wanted to know what happened next.
I gave the book a four star review, mainly because it was interesting. I don’t know that I had read anything that also included the Chinese immigrant perspective.
These two books are the lightest of the five books we got from the library. A good starting point, perhaps, for someone interested in expanding their knowledge on this era.
The Bear View 