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How to Get Rich Series
How to Get Rich on the Oregon Trail
This next volume in the charmingly tongue-in-cheek How to Get Rich series hits the jackpot once again. How to Get Rich on the Oregon Trail continues the winning combination of authentic historical facts and entertaining fictional voices. The narrative offers good-humored and practical advice for a trip out west along the Oregon Trail.
This whimsical recounting of one family’s journey to their new homestead will give readers an appreciation of the hardships faced by all those who signed up for the great migration. These include hunger, thirst, sickness, hostile American Indians, and even deceit and thievery on the part of fellow travelers. The book also shows the ingenuity, skill, and trickery used to overcome such challenges.
Wittily interweaving the fictional characters’ adventures with historical personages, locales, and events, Tod Olson captures many distinctive facets of the pioneering American spirit. Uniquely, he examines the economic angles of America’s westward expansion, showing the lure of financial opportunities that tempted so many onto the Oregon Trail—and the harsh realities that they discovered along the way. Artwork and archival images create a scrapbook collage effect, making the book a visual feast, and a fascinating snapshot of this period of American history. The rich back matter includes a note from Marc Aronson that specifies what is fact and what is fiction, as well as an extensive "Encyclopedia of the Oregon Trail."
National Geographic supports K-12 educators with ELA Common Core Resources.
Visit www.natgeoed.org/commoncore for more information.
This whimsical recounting of one family’s journey to their new homestead will give readers an appreciation of the hardships faced by all those who signed up for the great migration. These include hunger, thirst, sickness, hostile American Indians, and even deceit and thievery on the part of fellow travelers. The book also shows the ingenuity, skill, and trickery used to overcome such challenges.
Wittily interweaving the fictional characters’ adventures with historical personages, locales, and events, Tod Olson captures many distinctive facets of the pioneering American spirit. Uniquely, he examines the economic angles of America’s westward expansion, showing the lure of financial opportunities that tempted so many onto the Oregon Trail—and the harsh realities that they discovered along the way. Artwork and archival images create a scrapbook collage effect, making the book a visual feast, and a fascinating snapshot of this period of American history. The rich back matter includes a note from Marc Aronson that specifies what is fact and what is fiction, as well as an extensive "Encyclopedia of the Oregon Trail."
National Geographic supports K-12 educators with ELA Common Core Resources.
Visit www.natgeoed.org/commoncore for more information.
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
48 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
About the author
Tod Olson
21 books45 followersTod Olson is author of the historical fiction series HOW TO GET RICH, a Booklist Top Ten Series Non Fiction for Youth selection (don't tell them, but it's fiction). The first two books in his narrative nonfiction series, LOST, are now available. Tod lives with his family in Vermont and holds an MFA from Vermont College of the Fine Arts.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 21, 2009
The rise of the journal format has been swift and, by my estimation, successful. Taking a story and telling it in the form of a hand-written account makes sense for two reasons:
1. It takes said story into the first person, adding an immediacy that draws readers in.
2. Journals provide an opportunity to add richness to the text through illustrations, photographs, and other bits of non-text miscellanea.
The reasons above also explain why the journal format is a perfect fit for nonfiction. Following the wagon-wheel ruts of 2008’s How to Get Rich in the California Gold Rush, How to Get Rich on the Oregon Trail takes an historical event and gives it the journal treatment. If you’re nonfiction section is in need of an Oregon Trail update (and, really, is there one that isn’t?), this is a title you will want to seek out.
While the facts are accurate, the characters are fictional. In April of 1852 the young William Reed sets out with his family for the land and opportunity of the West. William, an aspiring writer, arranges to send his accounts of the trip back home to be published in the newspaper. Plans are set, finances are in order, supplies are acquired. The journey begins and the hardships the Reed family has heard about become reality. Scarce food and water, disease, and treacherous terrain combine to make the going tough. It isn’t long before their financial situation is looking grim. When their oxen are stolen, William and his older brother create the “Reed Brothers Ferry” and quickly learn that there is money to be made on the trail if you’ve got the will to seek it out. Four months after beginning, William and his family arrive in Portland, eager to settle in and begin life anew.
As laid out in the table of contents, each two-page spread is dedicated to a stop on the journey. These chunks prove quite manageable and will work well for young readers.
The way I see it, you can go two ways with this format – you can keep things ultra authentic, or you can make it modern. Oregon Trail goes the latter route. Presented as a current-day publication of an original journal, the overall look does not smack of 1852. While original photographs and maps are in the mix, the illustrations and layout provide an updated feel.
Engaging in format and boasting enough detail to give a sense of the journey that so many families made, How to Get Rich on the Oregon Trail should satisfy young history buffs and student fact finders alike.
1. It takes said story into the first person, adding an immediacy that draws readers in.
2. Journals provide an opportunity to add richness to the text through illustrations, photographs, and other bits of non-text miscellanea.
The reasons above also explain why the journal format is a perfect fit for nonfiction. Following the wagon-wheel ruts of 2008’s How to Get Rich in the California Gold Rush, How to Get Rich on the Oregon Trail takes an historical event and gives it the journal treatment. If you’re nonfiction section is in need of an Oregon Trail update (and, really, is there one that isn’t?), this is a title you will want to seek out.
While the facts are accurate, the characters are fictional. In April of 1852 the young William Reed sets out with his family for the land and opportunity of the West. William, an aspiring writer, arranges to send his accounts of the trip back home to be published in the newspaper. Plans are set, finances are in order, supplies are acquired. The journey begins and the hardships the Reed family has heard about become reality. Scarce food and water, disease, and treacherous terrain combine to make the going tough. It isn’t long before their financial situation is looking grim. When their oxen are stolen, William and his older brother create the “Reed Brothers Ferry” and quickly learn that there is money to be made on the trail if you’ve got the will to seek it out. Four months after beginning, William and his family arrive in Portland, eager to settle in and begin life anew.
As laid out in the table of contents, each two-page spread is dedicated to a stop on the journey. These chunks prove quite manageable and will work well for young readers.
The way I see it, you can go two ways with this format – you can keep things ultra authentic, or you can make it modern. Oregon Trail goes the latter route. Presented as a current-day publication of an original journal, the overall look does not smack of 1852. While original photographs and maps are in the mix, the illustrations and layout provide an updated feel.
Engaging in format and boasting enough detail to give a sense of the journey that so many families made, How to Get Rich on the Oregon Trail should satisfy young history buffs and student fact finders alike.
January 14, 2023
I’ve been enjoying picking up non-fiction children’s books to learn a nice overview of a subject. With a toddler, reading in-depth, adult non-fiction isn’t in the cards for me right now. So I pick up some non-fiction books for myself while perusing the library’s picture book section for my toddler.
How to Get Rich on the Oregon Trail takes readers through the experience of a family deciding to sell their home and make the treacherous journey west. The hardships of the trail are not skipped over with the young man seeing fresh graves, dead animals and his own family falling sick with fever.
How to Get Rich on the Oregon Trail takes readers through the experience of a family deciding to sell their home and make the treacherous journey west. The hardships of the trail are not skipped over with the young man seeing fresh graves, dead animals and his own family falling sick with fever.
June 19, 2017
This book is great for people visiting Oregon, as well as people who are just interested in the Oregon trail. This book is mainly nonfiction except for some parts that are most likely made up to make the book more interesting. I found that some parts are to exaggerated such as "the snowcapped peaks are beautiful, but warn of great danger to come if we to not hurry". Overall though, this book is a great read, but not necessarily an easy one.
March 4, 2015
In 1852 William Reed and his family leave Springfield, IL to travel out West to Portland, OR for better opportunities. He loves to write and wants to be a writer one day so before they leave, he arranges to send snip-its of his family’s trip back home to be published in the newspaper. Everyone has their supplies and money in order and are ready to start out. The journey begins and almost immediately the hardships William’s family has heard about begin. Food shortages, diseases, and dangerous landscapes make the journey long. Money starts to get low and William’s family become the victims of thieves! They have to think on their feet to survive and end up creating “Reed Brothers Ferry”, a service that all trail goers are in need of. William and his family eventually arrive in Portland, but their journey teaches them a lot about survival in the unknown, preparing them for their new life in Oregon!
October 13, 2014
This non-fiction book is about the towns, people and places along the Oregon trail. The book features maps and beautiful illustrations that bring the book to life. It starts with the towns in the east, in Missouri mostly. Then talks about sites like chimney rock, fort Laramie, and independence rock. It covers many of the significant geological challenges these travelers faced, and how they would best them. The illustrations are full of notes that provide extra information after the text. Many students love the game the Oregon trail and this book would be great to reveal the actual history behind the game.
October 10, 2010
Done in a journal style text, this is a great book for anyone interested in how people traveled on the Oregon Trail. Filled with amazing illustrations, readers will travel with a 15 year old young man as his family struggles to make it to Oregon to hopefully have a better life. Page after page of exciting text and illustrations will keep young readers interested in learning more. A excellent resource book for any library's collection.
wish-list
September 19, 2010In fifth grade, I did a BIG project on the Oregon Trail because we had traveled across country twice and lived in Oregon for a summer. Until Alaska, this was hands-down my favorite vacation. Melissa sold me on this with her review at Kidliterate.
November 16, 2013
I used this book for a social studies lesson and centers for 5th grade. 4th and maybe 3rd graders could enjoy this book as well. It is full of journal entries from a famous pioneer, William Reed, who traveled west on the Oregon Trail. The stories, examples, and illustrations make students feel like they are on the trail too.
December 17, 2009
A highly entertaining reading experience with a gorgeous and interesting layout. I can't think of a better way to make history fun, even though this book is fairly lighthearted and skates over a lot of the hardship endured by the pioneers heading to Oregon.
December 12, 2013
This book is a great one if you are teaching students about the Oregon Trail. There are many different literacy stations that you could implement in your classroom when you read this book to students. The book also provides great story line that students can easily follow and connect with.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews