Title: Davy Crockett: Ever Westward
Author: Janet & Geoff Benge
Series: Heroes of History
Major Themes: Colonial America, David Crockett, Frontier Life, Tennessee, Texas
Synopsis: David Crockett had a very adventurous life on the American frontier.
One thing our family really enjoys is reading books together, and some of our favorite books are written by Janet & Geoff Benge. These are books we reserve for evenings when the whole family, including Daddy, is together. Our most recent one was Davy Crockett: Ever Westward. We found this biography quite interesting. I knew very little about David Crockett, as he was known during his lifetime, before, but now we all know quite a lot.
David Crockett was only 12 years old when he left his backwoods home in Tennessee for the first time to help a man drive a small herd of cows to Virginia. This set the pattern for a lifetime of wandering, as he tried one location or enterprise after another, always somehow losing everything and having to start over again. We were amazed at some of his adventures and aghast at others—such as wading and swimming a flooded, icy river to retrieve a keg of gunpowder so that he could occupy himself with hunting during the winter!
David’s trials as he found a wife for himself were amusing, if not heartbreaking at times. His political career quite surprised us; we had no idea he was so deeply involved in politics for a number of years. The one thing I knew for sure about him, before reading this book, was that he died in the Alamo—but how did he end up there? It’s quite an interesting story!
If you enjoy a readable biography, and want to learn more about heroes from American history, have a look at the Heroes of History series. We learned quite a lot about the American frontier in the early 1800s, and enjoyed ourselves at the same time.
WARNING: In chapter 2, page 17, a man gets shot. Chapter 4 contains a fight and cursing. Chapter 8 describes fighting the Indians, and chapter 17 relates the story of the battle at the Alamo.
Age levels:
Listening Level—Ages 5 – 8, 8 – 12, Family Friendly
Reading Independently—Ages 8 – 12, 10 – 12, 12 – 15
Links to buy this book:
Amazon: Paperback | Kindle | Audible Audiobook (unabridged) | Audio CD
AbeBooks: View Choices on AbeBooks.com
Book Depository: Paperback
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