Best Children's Western American Historical Fiction

When his father sets out on a cattle drive for the summer, fourteen-year-old Travis is left to take care of his family and their farm, and he faces new, unanticipated and often perilous responsibilities in the wilderness of early fronteir Texas. When a novel like Huckleberry Finn, or The Yearling, comes along it defies customary adjectives because of the intensity of the respouse it evokes in the reader.

Along with their new best friends, Abigail and Pru, Lucky and Spirit set off on daring adventures, push their limits, and discover what it means to be truly free. She's been a Kid's Indie Pick, a Scholastic Book Fair bestseller, and been included in Bank Street's 100th Edition of Best Children's Books, Smithsonian Magazine's Notable Children's Books, and Amazon's Best Children's Books.

Janet Squires and Holly Berry retell this classic tale with a Wild Western flair, filled with rodeo-romping fun. The illustrations are bold: while the rancher and his wife look a bit flat, and the expressions of the cattle are cookie-cutter perfect, the Cowboy contorts his body expressively, and the coyote is infinitely sly. The orangey-brown land and sparse green cacti convey a sense of desolation, but the colorful crowd of animals and cowboys stands out dramatically against the parched landscape.

A timeless American classic and one of the most beloved children’s books ever written, Old Yeller is a Newbery Honor Book that explores the poignant and unforgettable bond between a boy and the stray dog who becomes his loyal friend. When his father sets out on a cattle drive toward Kansas for the summer, fourteen-year-old Travis Coates is left to take care of his family and their farm. But can Travis do the same for Old Yeller?

Seventeen-year-old Luke Savage jumps at the chance, envisioning endless hours of sunbathing on the private beach and riding the waves on his beloved surfboard.

The nine books in the timeless Little House series tell the story of Laura’s real childhood as an American pioneer, and are cherished by readers of all generations. They offer a unique glimpse into life on the American frontier, and tell the heartwarming, unforgettable story of a loving family. Meet the Ingalls family—Laura, Ma, Pa, Mary, and baby Carrie, who all live in a cozy log cabin in the big woods of Wisconsin in the 1870s. Though many of their neighbors are wolves and panthers and bears, the woods feel like home, thanks to Ma’s homemade cheese and butter and the joyful sounds of Pa’s fiddle. As Laura Ingalls is growing up in a little house in Kansas, Almanzo Wilder lives on a big farm in New York. When Ma, Mary, Laura, Carrie, and baby Grace join him, they become the first settlers in the town of De Smet. With snow piled as high as the rooftops, it’s impossible for trains to deliver supplies, and the townspeople, including Laura and her family, are starving. Laura spends many hours sewing shirts to help Ma and Pa get enough money to send Mary to a college for the blind. The set includes: Little House in the Big Woods, Little House on the Prairie, Farmer Boy, On the Banks of Plum Creek, By the Shores of Silver Lake, The Long Winter, Little Town on the Prairie, These Happy Golden Years, and The First Four Years. In those same woods, Laura lives with Pa and Ma, and her sisters, Mary and Baby Carrie, in a snug little house built of logs. Little House on the Prairie Pa Ingalls decides to sell the little log house, and the family sets out for Indian country! Farmer Boy While Laura Ingalls grows up in a little house on the western prairie, Almanzo Wilder is living on a big farm in New York State. On the Banks of Plum Creek Laura's family's first home in Minnesota is made of sod, but Pa builds a clean new house made of sawed lumber beside Plum Creek. But in the evenings, Laura makes time for a new caller, Almanzo Wilder. And every Friday -- no matter what the weather -- Almanzo Wilder arrives to take Laura home to her family for the weekend. The First Four Years Laura and Almanzo Wilder have just been married!

This special edition includes new material, including a note to readers from Newbery Medal winner and Printz Honor winner Clare Vanderpool, a letter from Wilson Rawls to aspiring writers, original jacket artwork, and more. Praise for Where the Red Fern Grows A Top 100 Children’s Novel, School Library Journal A Must-Read for Kids 9 to 14, NPR. Winner of 4 State Awards. Over 7 million copies in print! Any child who doesn’t get to read this beloved and powerfully emotional book has missed out on an important piece of childhood for the last 40-plus years.” — Common Sense Media “An exciting tale of love and adventure you’ll never forget.” — School Library Journal “A book of unadorned naturalness.” — Kirkus Reviews “Written with so much feeling and sentiment that adults as well as children are drawn [in] with a passion.” — Arizona Daily Star “It’s a story about a young boy and his two hunting dogs and . Praise for Where the Red Fern Grows A Top 100 Children’s Novel, School Library Journal A Must-Read for Kids 9 to 14, NPR. Winner of 4 State Awards. Over 7 million copies in print! “A rewarding book .

America’s #1 radio talk-show host and multi-million-copy #1 New York Times bestselling author presents a book for young readers with a history teacher who travels back in time to have adventures with exceptional Americans. Talk about a rock star—this guy wanted to protect young America so badly, he rode through those bumpy, cobblestone-y streets shouting “the British are coming!” On a horse. But what if you could get the real picture—by actually going back in time and seeing with your own eyes how our great country came to be? Our exceptional nation is waiting to be discovered all over again by exceptional young patriots— like you ! After offering a wide-ranging definition of American exceptionalism that begins with the statement that the U.S. is a “land built on true freedom and individual liberty, and it defends both around the world,” Limbaugh goes on to explain that the Founders believed all people were born to be “free as individuals.” Really? The book’s premise is that a substitute history teacher, Rush Revere, who dresses like his hero, Paul, along with his talking horse, Liberty, can go back in time. The text is wordy, and many of the pages are spent on the banter between Rush and Liberty, occasionally amusing but mostly just filling space, as do the tedious explanations of the way time travel works. They hadn’t been spoiled by wall-to-wall carpets, central heating and microwave ovens.” The fact that many modern-day people do experience incredible hardships, albeit different from the Pilgrims, seems not to have occurred to Limbaugh. Apparently, the turnaround for the struggling colony came “when every family was assigned its own plot of land to work.” Rush Revere drives home the point that it was after the Pilgrims stopped sharing the profits that success was ensured.