You Wouldn't Want to Live in a Wild West Town! Dust You'd Rather Not Settle

by Peter Hicks

Looks through the eyes of the fictional marshal of an imaginary town called Dustville to show what life was like on the Great Plains just after the Civil War.

This series meets National Curriculum Standards for: Science: History and Nature of Science Social Studies: Time, Continuity, & Change

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Childrens, Picture Books, American History, Education, American

32 pages, Library Binding

First published March 1, 2002

Reviews

[Annette]

Review by James, age 9, 8/18/18

This is a book about an imaginary Wild West called "Dustville." The book casts you as a marshall sometime after 1865. The main idea this book wants you to understand is that you would not want to live in a Wild West town - hence the title.
Some reasons you would not want to live there are:
1) Nearly everyone has a gun and fights in the street. There are lots and lots of outlaws like Jesse James and Billy the Kid.
2) There are horrible doctors . Makeshift casts could leave you with a dislocated arm or a limp. There are no dentists so you have to go to the blacksmith.
3) The diseases are ridiculously bad. Scurvy, tuberculosis, and cholera could kill you.
4) There are longhorn stampedes when the cowboys visit town. The longhorns carry a disease called "Texas Fever" that can wipe out local cattle.

After I read this book I thought how lucky I was that I don't live in the Wild West.

[Amy]

You Wouldn't Want to Live in a Wild West Town takes place in a fictional wild west town called Dustville, and "you" are the town sheriff. Despite the fictional town, though, the book does right by history, and provides a good *general* introduction to the trials and tribulations of life in a wild west town. A great many elements of what western life was like are there, from discussion of how buffalo were hunted to the brink of extinction, to vigilante justice, to cattle drives, to violations of Indian treaties, to hardship brought on by outlaws, nature, disease, and less than adequate medical service. Noticeably absent, though, were two major contributors to western settlement; gold rushes and railroads. Also lacking, as in many of the other books in this series, was any discussion of the contributions of women, which my niece noticed and commented upon.

Despite a poor showing of female characters in the story, my niece and I both found this one to be pretty interesting and entertaining. Sadly, my nephew slept through it. This is unfortunate, for in the end his sister, "the sheriff," was gunned down, and the sheriff's brother was promoted to the post. Hm. Advancement opportunity missed. You snooze, you lose. :-)

[Naima]

Bacaan yang ringan dengan ilustrasi dan deskripsi yang lucu khas amerika, menceritakan tentang kehidupan koboi jaman dulu pada masa pasca perang saudara. nggak pernah kebayang kan, bila kita terjebak di tengah badai salju apa yang harus dilakukan orang2 itu? Cukup cari bison yang besar, belah perutnya, keluarkan isinya dan kau masuk ke dalam perutnya. Maka kau akan merasa hangat dan selamat, hiyyy..

masih banyak lagi hal2 yang tidak pernah kita bayangkan sebelumnya akan kita temui di sini. Yang pasti jika kau benar2 tidak punya jiwa petualang maka turuti pesan judul ini. Cukup dibaca saja, hehehe

[Kevin Bowerman]

You Wouldn't Want to Live in a Wild West Town is a great, short informational picture book, written so you are the main character, who is the marshal of a town called Dustville. It brings you through the daily life of a marshal, and tells you about many historical events. You learn about entertainment, dangers, etc. that people had to live with in a Wild West Town.

[Samantha]

Like many of the books in the wouldn’t want to series, there is a nice variety of facts and illustrations. They tend to allow a variety of readers to access the text. This one in particular has some really great facial expressions which could supplement discussions on empathy or trying to imagine their world in the West

[Barbara]

This series of books takes a non-serious look at the less than bright side of whatever historical period is being written about. In this case readers are made aware of the perils of western life including scurvy, having teet pulled by the blacksmith and Indians.

[Danna]

I loved this book! My third graders introduced me to this series that I didn’t know existed! Such a fun read about living in a Wild West town! Can you imagine what Guthrie would have been like at statehood? Who says history can’t be fun?!

[Timothy]

I like the humor in history it gives

[Sue]

LOVED the illustrations; story was good too.

[Diana]

I love this series of children's books, they give the basics of an historical event or figure in a fun way that will interest kids.

[Abraham Ray]

interesting book of the old west.

[Kelly Carey]

The wild west was wild, but it was also dirty, dusty, and difficult.

[Kelly Toepfer]

I found this book interesting yet, disturbing - buffalo being skinned, talk about shooting people - yes, I know that was the reality of those time but is this really for elementary aged kids?

[Haley Davis]

Great book! Gave me a good sense of what life was like in the west back in the 1800's. Good detail, easy to read.

[Samantha]

This is a very informative and humorous book. I think I've read one other book in this series and it was also very interesting. This one gets kinda dark at the end, but boy is it realistic. Quick and educational read, in a fun way.

[Elisabeth]

Too wordy and I didn't love the illustrations.

[The Brothers]

Asher (8yo) read.