Famous Pioneers & Frontiersmen: Notable Lives from History is a fun and engaging reader for students or anyone with a love for history. Explore the lives and accomplishments of 10 famous men & women from history. These fascinating stories incorporate well for students in grades 6-8 in many areas of study including history, language arts, vocabulary words and definitions, and cultural insights.
Meet unforgettable people and animals in the What a Character! Notable Lives from History series as you enjoy 10 real stories within each book!
Designed to be fun and engaging for students or anyone with a love for history, these readers include a fascinating focus on important, influential, and visionary people, along with heroic animal escapades! From scientists to famous women to war heroes and more, there is something of interest for everyone in this exciting series!
This volume, Famous Pioneers and Frontiersmen is recommended for Grade 6 and up and includes:
Daniel Boone
George Rogers Clark
Elizabeth Zane
Davy Crockett
Jed Smith
Lewis and Clark
John Colter
Kit Carson
Jim Bridger
Wild Bill Hickok
Each book can be read in any order and includes colorful and fun images. Definitions are included to help readers learn the new words they will discover. Read for enjoyment or as an extension of your history, science, or language arts curriculum.
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. Daniel Boone — Blazing the Wilderness Trail
2. George Rogers Clark — The Hero of Vincennes
3. Elizabeth Zane — Frontier Girl Who Saved Fort Henry
4. Davy Crockett — The Fearless Frontiersman
5. Jed Smith — Trapper, Hunter, and Trailblazer
6. Lewis and Clark — Expedition to the West
7. John Colter — The Race for Life
8. Kit Carson — American Trapper
9. Jim Bridger — King of the Mountain Men
10. Wild Bill Hickok — Famous Lawman
Glossary
Corresponding Curriculum
Endnotes
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This 'What a Character!' series is simply amazing for all ages. My kids are loving reading the books, not realizing how much history they are learning in the process. The stories in this book about pioneers and frontiersmen were really interesting. It is always fun to learn more about people you thought you knew a lot about. This book also contains people in history I had never read about before such as Jim Bridger. Our favorite story in this book was about John Colter and how he survived an Indian attack by hiding underwater and breathing through a hollow reed! I've learned so much about the character of different people in history that I can now see through a new light. This book is very engaging and has lots of pictures intertwined within the text to help keep little readers/listeners engaged while still providing rich text to keep the attention of an active reader. The book is wonderful at defining words that might be troublesome for the student, putting them in the text as well as in a glossary. I highly recommend this to any homeschooling family wanting to find clean, quality reading options.
5
Famous Pioneers and Frontiersmen
Review bySantina
I am very impressed with the amount of detail put in each of the stories of Famous Pioneers and Frontiersmen. The reader is put into the life and culture of each character. Famous Pioneers is a great way to incorporate more history into your school day (whether you are adding to history or language arts). The vocabulary words, glossary, and curriculum suggestions are consistent with the other books in the series and are super helpful.
5
We love it!
Review byCrystal
Our family loves all the books in this series, and we have been looking forward to this one! The stories are interesting, informative, and brief enough to be a great addition to a morning basket or spine curriculum. I like how the author chose a few well-known pioneers, but also chose a few lesser-known ones. I enjoyed adding to my knowledge of some and learning about some new pioneers (and a pioneer lady!) that I didn’t know of previously. We are studying American History this year, so I’m so glad we have these new resources to add to our studies!
5
Amazing Stories
Review byYulia
Famous Pioneers and Frontiersmen is a set of 10 stories about heroes who played an important part in expanding, exploring or even protecting the USA. The stories are very encouraging to young readers since they speak of God providence in these people's lives, the devotion of the people to God and their nation, perseverance, bravery and hard work. It is so important for our kids to see and learn from such wonderful examples and heroes and grow admiring and mimicking them. These series are absolutely great, and we enjoy reading them as Read Aloud together with kids, admiring these heroes and the amazing work of God in their lives.
5
Engaging, fun stories
Review byKathleen C
This book is ten stories of courageous men and women who witnessed the beauty and brutality of life on the frontier. The stories can be read in any order. Tales of survival, independence, and encounters with wildlife capture what life was like as a frontiersman. Our favorite stories from this book are John Colter and Jim Bridger. We heard how John Colter survived for many days in the wilderness. He had no shoes, no weapons, and no other resources. He had to run for his life but he made it. We also liked hearing the story of Jim Bridger who lived with an arrowhead stuck in his back for three years while he continued trapping, scouting, and setting trails. I highly recommend this book, the stories are engaging for both parent and child
5
A Favorite!
Review byBecky V.
I just can’t say enough good about any of the What a Character! books. These have been our absolute favorite books to reach for. My kids, ages 10 to 6, gravitate to these books and absolutely love reading about real people from our history. This latest release, Famous Pioneers & Frontiersmen, has been my son’s favorite so far.
Famous Pioneers & Frontiersmen explores the stories of Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, Wild Bill Hickok, Kit Carson, and more. It is great as a stand-alone book, or to use alongside your history spine - we have loved incorporating the stories as we study American history! It is an excellent way to dive deeper into the stories of the brave men and women who helped shape our history.
5
Educational and Exciting
Review byDawn
From Daniel Boone, to Elizabeth Zane, to Wild Bill Hickok this book covers the stories of ten different pioneers and frontiersmen. These exciting stories help teach both history and moral lessons through the real life engaging stories of these men and women. This would make a great supplement for a history curriculum but also works well for students who enjoy nonfiction independent reading.
5
History made fun!
Review byDustie
I genuinely love this whole series! This book is no exception. While it covers the stories of some well-known pioneers and frontiersmen, such as Daniel Boone and Davy Crocker, there are some I was not familiar with, like Elizabeth Zane and Jim Bridger. It contains the same spirit of adventure as other volumes of the series, helping children gain a love for history.
This book is great for independent reading, as it is fun and has definitions for words that may be unfamiliar or difficult for younger readers to understand. It would make a great read-aloud or morning basket addition. These stories would also be really fun to include with corresponding history lessons, and there’s even a list in the back of the book that notes potential books to pair each chapter with.
Overall, I highly recommend this entire series of books for every homeschool library. They’re such a fun way to learn bits of history.