Your Travel Guide to America's Old West (Passport to History)

Part of a series which takes children back through history to previous time periods, this book by Rita Markel is most enjoyable and very informative. The layout is very pleasing - the background color and texture to each page is reminiscent of old documents, there are interesting photos, as well as pictures of items mentioned in the text. I especially liked the side bars which include trivia, safety tips, things not to be missed etc. The book is written in the present tense and advises the reader on a wealth of necessary information to help decide where to go and what to see in America's old west. Ms. Markel tells it like it is (for you feel you are going to be there very soon). It is clearly a very well-researched book, but it's never boring, and one can gallop along at a good pace. There are all kinds of fascinating tidbits in this book eg. nitroglycerin used for blasting railroad tunnels was known as "bang juice"; women were allowed to vote, hold political office and serve on...Read more