Aurora Means Dawn

by Scott Russell Sanders

After traveling from Connecticut to Ohio in 1800 to start a new life in the settlement of Aurora, the Sheldons find that they are the first family to arrive there and realize that they will be starting a new community by themselves

Genres: Picture Books, 2nd Grade, Geography

32 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Scott Russell Sanders is the award-winning author of A Private History of Awe, Hunting for Hope, A Conservationist Manifesto, Dancing in Dreamtime, and two dozen other books of fiction, personal narrative, and essays. His father came from a family of cotton farmers in Mississippi, his mother from an immigrant doctor’s family in Chicago. He spent his early childhood in Tennessee and his school years in Ohio, Rhode Island, and Cambridge, England.

In his writing he is concerned with our place in nature, the practice of community, and the search for a spiritual path. He and his wife, Ruth, a biochemist, have reared two children in their hometown of Bloomington, in the hardwood hill country of southern Indiana. You can visit Scott at www.scottrussellsanders.com.

In August 2020, Counterpoint Press will publish his new collection of essays, The Way of Imagination, a reflection on healing and renewal in a time of climate disruption. He is currently at work on a collection of short stories inspired by photographs.

Reviews

[Luisa Knight · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story about a pioneer family trying to make it to their new homestead.

Ages: 4 - 8

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[Villain E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Settlers moving west encounter a storm which leaves a bunch of fallen trees in their path. Loosely based on a true story. The art is okay.

[Kelle Treadwell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ohio

[Marcy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful story!

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nope. The key part, the getting help, is invented. And I'm just tired of reading pioneer stories anyway, lauding people who took Native land, who tamed wilderness, who had too many children. Ugh.

[Holly Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

It must have been so hard to decide to leave everything behind to go to a new place with nothing but the promise of land and happiness. The settlers in this book faced really difficult obstacles to get to their homestead and build their home. I couldn't imagine having to weather such a difficult storm outside and then camp until a house was built with 7 kids! Wow! A great story of perseverance. What other kids of settling stories are there out there? What difficult obstacles did you face when you moved to a new place?

[Julie Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Worthwhile for the middle school classroom, both ELA & Social Studies. Great for a lesson/unit on writing historical fiction, as the author speaks to the reader at the end about how primary sources about the history of his home inspired his writing. For Social Studies, this is a nice, brief little snapshot of being sold on a village that is really just a flag in the middle of the woods; the experience of the very first groups of white settlers in the west.

[Sandybear76 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I purchased the book at the Buckeye Book Fair 2011.

A family is moving by oxen team to Ohio to farm new lands. They are almost to their new home when a terrific thunderstorm rages around them. Trees falling in the trail so that they can't drive their wagon anymore.

[Matthew · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had not story, no character development, no educational value, and the ending provided no closure. At least the artwork was good.