Ellen Baumler writes about Montana History. She finds interesting stories and shares them with humor. Two of her titles that I really enjoy are Montana Moments and More Montana Moments. The stories are short and well told. They are great read-alouds.
She has also written a collection of "Ghost Stories": "Montana Chillers: 13 True Tales of Ghosts and Hauntings"; Spirit Tailings: Ghost Stories from Virginia City, Butte, and Helena.
For a flavor of her writing check out her blog Montana Moments http://ellenbaumler.blogspot.com/. It was from Ellen's work that I first learned about Camel's in Montana during the Gold Rush era.
Another writer I have recently been introduced to is Lauren Tarshis. She is the writer of the historic fiction series "I survived". The books are written for kids but are solidly researched. I am currently reading "I Survived the San Francisco Earthquake, 1906" to my 5th graders. The books provide the hook and background knowledge for working with primary sources around the event.
When I told my students that Lauren Tarsis was a female author they looked at me and said, "The author is a girl? How do you know?"
"She was in Billings in October and I got to hear her talk about her books at a luncheon."
It is always fun to find new reads and authors? What are some of your favorites?
We just had our book fair last week, and they featured the I Survived series. I noticed quite a few kids looking at them. Wish I'd had your recommendation then, Ruth. It's hard to tell sometimes what's good & what isn't. Now I'll at least know to look for them! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI have always been fascinated by local ghost stories of strange and unusual occurrences in PA. One year a friend gave be a book called "Weird Pennsylvania". There is a whole series of these "Weird" books. Quite interesting.
ReplyDeleteShe has a contract for a total of 13. My kids love them they go out all the time. They are a little simplistic - but that is due for the age level. They sure make a great intro for some of the topics though.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to check these out, Ruth - I'm always on the prowl for engaging history books.
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