The Trail of Tears By Joesph Bruchac

The Trail of Tears is an informational text about westward expansion. My seven year old is currently very interested in battles and history so he helped me select this book. This particular book is geared fro grades 2-4. The front cover is very appealing and helped us begin to discuss what The Trail of Tears was. The cover shows many Cherokee people traveling on horseback and in wagons carrying everything they own. The chapter titles are great fro young readers because they are typed in bold print and distinguishing colr. They also allow children to begin to think about the content of the chapter. For example the first chapter is called the sad departure. We were able to disscuss what made a departure sad. My little genious concluded that they must not have wanted to leave their home. Each new page has a large illustration that depicts what was happening as the people prepared to leave and then covered the events of the journey. I thought the maps were ecspecially useful to help make connections to young readers about the origination point of the journey and the destination. This book also included historical figures who are notorious for their role in life at that time. This book, being a children's book, did sugar coat the details of the revolution and the white settlers. I really felt that my son got a great start to understanding history. I would recommend this read to anyone who knows a young person interested in history.