![]() In her post, Messner talks about the different kinds of things you have to consider when a dog is narrating or describing something. The book is “written in third person, and goes back and forth from Ranger’s dog-centered point of view to the point of view of the main character in the historical setting”(from this blog post). It seems like it would be great for fans of the Magic Treehouse series, or even the “I Survived” series, as well. Who I Would Give It To: I think 2nd or 3rd grade might be the sweet spot for this one, but I think a 4th or 5th grader would still enjoy reading it. I was interested to see how the two options I’ve come to expect would play out in this book, and I found the ending to be satisfying, yet not wrapped up too neatly as to seem unreal. The conditions on the trail were hard, and Messner does a good job of communicating that, while still being sensitive to younger readers. With books about the Oregon Trail, you usually get one of two options: either the family makes it safe and sound to the Oregon Territory and their new life, or they die along the way. He goes back in time and gets to use his rescue training in an historical context. I was also intrigued by the character of Ranger, the rescue dog who failed his test because he kept getting distracted by squirrels. With only 125 pages, it only took an hour or so, and though the story is fairly simple (as one would expect from a book for younger readers), it’s not lacking in detail, depth and interest. Why I Finished It: It was really easy to finish this one. ![]() While we were at ILA this summer, we happened to get a copy of this very book, and it was even signed by the author! (This is Kate and me, and one of her latest books, which is also on my “to read” list!) ![]() I really enjoyed Kate Messner’s Capture the Flag, and I had seen this new series on Kate Messner’s blog post where she announced a really cool summer writing program for teachers, made a mental note to check it out and then lost the note somewhere along the way. We are also getting ready for the upcoming Texas Council for the Social Studies Conference at the end of the month, and so we are also looking for books that have a historical context for the young elementary crowd. We tend to read either YA novels or picture books, and so we’ve been looking for younger elementary chapter books. Why I Picked It Up: This book had two different things to recommend it to me.
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