Biography - Who Was Daniel Boone? by Sydelle Kramer

Most kids enjoy being outdoors, letting their creativity run wild as they create new stories and adventures. Daniel Boone was a boy who did not enjoy being inside, he grew up to be a strong adventurous man that rescued his daughter from kidnappers, and led pioneers out West as the "Great Pathfinder" (Kramer, 2006). This biography provides an accurate and easy to read story about Daniel Boone beginning from his childhood hunting days, to wandering, the kidnapping of his daughter, to his experience as the man who led pioneer's out West.

The publishers of this book have an entire series of famous biographies that allows younger readers to learn about great people from history. 

Considering quality in the biography, Who Was Daniel Boone? follows all criteria in a fun and adventurous manner fit for younger readers. The story is grounded in fact, with timelines of Daniel Boone's life as well as accurate timelines for the world at the time of his life. It portrays a multidimensional subject that provides an in-depth character. The style presents comprehension and engaging text while unifying the theme, highlighting specific events in his life (Kramer, 2006, pg. 288).

The illustrations were done by George Ulrich, that are black pen sketches which depict various aspects of the story in a manner that is simplistic, yet captures the eye, drawing the reader into the biography.

It would be important to have the readers ask questions about historic events surrounding the pilgrimage, how they feel about kidnapping; as well asking questions about the outdoors. Response centered projects could be a theme song, which the readers could create a tune of their own or select a tune that is well-known, writing stanzas from the book, which they can then write an essay describing why they chose these particular facts to include in their song. Another project would be a once/now essay, where the reader could write about the main character in the book, supporting their ideas with examples from the book to create an essay (Kramer, 2006, pg. 351).

I would recommend all of these books for young readers as an accurate and factual, yet fun and adventurous way for them to learn about historical figures and facts. The books provide a wonderful avenue to explore great events from history.