Kirsten's Story Collection (The American Girls Collection)

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful keepsake collection about a Swedish pioneer girl
Review: When I read the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder I was in the fourth grade and just discovering for myself how great it was to lose myself in a good story. At the same time, without even realizing it, I was learning about what it meant to be a pioneer girl in the mid-1800s, back when the American Wild West was largely unsettled and still justified the �Wild� part. It was a lot less like the cowboy movies than I�d imagined.

The American Girl stories must have been created with girls like me in mind. If you are unfamiliar with these books, they are the stories of fictional girls from various eras of American history and geography, each telling a small part of the story of the peoples that made up the character of our nation in the 1700s, 1800s and the first half of the 1900s. Kirsten�s Story Collection is a collection of stories written about Kirsten Larson, a Swedish girl who came over to America with her family in 1854 to be pioneers. Although Kirsten is a fictional person, she is apparently based on a composite of real pioneers of her time and seems very well-researched. Through her eyes we see New York, the Mississippi River on a great riverboat, the Midwest through a pioneer caravan and several small towns along the way. Kirsten meets and befriends other pioneers, farmers and native Americans. She endures hardships with her familiy and struggles to learn English at the Powderkeg School. Always, Kirsten solves her problems with the support of her family and faith in hard work and integrity (those things we call American values).

As an adult I read these stories quickly. They are written in a straightforward style suited perfectly for their intended age group of 7+. The themes of family, friendship and adventures are universally appealing and fun even while subtly teaching history to young minds. The morals are wholesome but not based on any specific faith (maybe a little too politically correct in my opinion, but not conspicuously). If I had a daughter I would happily encourage her to read these books. Maybe I�ll keep my copy for my boys.

In the tradition of the Little House books, this story collection is nicely illustrated with colored pencil drawings (although by no means could you consider it a picture book � these are real novels for ages seven and up). I enjoyed having them bound together in a quality hardcover binding as opposed to earlier editions in separate paperback versions. IMHO this would be a great gift book for a young reader, a definite keepsake.
-Andrea, aka Merribelle

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful keepsake collection about a Swedish pioneer girl
Review: When I read the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder I was in the fourth grade and just discovering for myself how great it was to lose myself in a good story. At the same time, without even realizing it, I was learning about what it meant to be a pioneer girl in the mid-1800s, back when the American Wild West was largely unsettled and still justified the 'Wild' part. It was a lot less like the cowboy movies than I'd imagined.

The American Girl stories must have been created with girls like me in mind. If you are unfamiliar with these books, they are the stories of fictional girls from various eras of American history and geography, each telling a small part of the story of the peoples that made up the character of our nation in the 1700s, 1800s and the first half of the 1900s. Kirsten's Story Collection is a collection of stories written about Kirsten Larson, a Swedish girl who came over to America with her family in 1854 to be pioneers. Although Kirsten is a fictional person, she is apparently based on a composite of real pioneers of her time and seems very well-researched. Through her eyes we see New York, the Mississippi River on a great riverboat, the Midwest through a pioneer caravan and several small towns along the way. Kirsten meets and befriends other pioneers, farmers and native Americans. She endures hardships with her familiy and struggles to learn English at the Powderkeg School. Always, Kirsten solves her problems with the support of her family and faith in hard work and integrity (those things we call American values).

As an adult I read these stories quickly. They are written in a straightforward style suited perfectly for their intended age group of 7+. The themes of family, friendship and adventures are universally appealing and fun even while subtly teaching history to young minds. The morals are wholesome but not based on any specific faith (maybe a little too politically correct in my opinion, but not conspicuously). If I had a daughter I would happily encourage her to read these books. Maybe I'll keep my copy for my boys.

In the tradition of the Little House books, this story collection is nicely illustrated with colored pencil drawings (although by no means could you consider it a picture book ' these are real novels for ages seven and up). I enjoyed having them bound together in a quality hardcover binding as opposed to earlier editions in separate paperback versions. IMHO this would be a great gift book for a young reader, a definite keepsake.
-Andrea, aka Merribelle