The Great Expedition of Lewis and Clark by Judith Edwards

Edwards, Judith. (2003).The Great Expedition of Lewis and Clark: By Private Reubin
Field, Member of the Corps of Discovery. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux.

Grade Level:
I would recommend this book for students in grades Pre-K – 3.

Author Credibility:
Judith Edwards has written several children’s books. This book won several awards including: best Non-Fiction for the 2003 Wilde Awards and Science Trade Books for students K-12. A biblography for the book is found on the back cover, letting the reader know where the information came from.

Summary:
This story is told from the prospective of Reubin Field. The story begins with Reubin introducing himself, telling of his role in the expedition, why he chose to participate, and why they are going at all. He told about preparing in the military before the expedition even set out. He describes them journeying upriver. They met Indians, both good and bad. He tells the attitudes and important things that happened to other members of the Corps of Discovery. Toussaint Charbonneau and his wife Sacagawea and their child join the expedition. Reubin tells about what they had to do to survive, including hunting and making and repairing their own clothing. They learned to make canoes. Once while meeting with Indians Sacagawea was reunited with her brother. Once they cross the continental divide the water flows the other way so they are now going downstream. Soon they reached the ocean. They set up camp here for the winter. They wrote about many of the animals they had seen such as antelope ,badgers, and even a whale. Finally, ready to get home they set back out. They had several other encounters with Indians along the way home. One almost getting them all killed. After two years and four months they returned home. Reubin went back to work tilling the ground he received for going on the expedition. The story ends with Reubin wondering what will happen to the land in the future.

Standards:
Social Studies
*Culture
*Time, Continuity, and Change
*People, Places and Environments

Science
*Earth and Space Science
*Life Science

Illustrations:
Illustrations are done by Sally Wern Comport. The illustrations consist of paintings that coinside with the text. The book does not specify, but I think the illustrations are done in water colors. Other drawings (done in brown) are found throughout the book. These drawings remind me of sketches found in a journal.

Access Features:
*Who was Reubin Field?
*Bibliography
*Author and Illustrator information

How I would use the book in the classroom:
This book would, of course, be good to use in a study of the expedition of Lewis and Clark. You could also use this book when doing a study on Native Americans (be sure to point out that without the Native Americans the group probabally would not have survived).

My response to the book:
I enjoyed reading this book. One of the reasons I liked this book is because it is told from the prospective of an ordinary member of the Corps of Discovery. You read so much about Lewis and Clark and even Sacagawea, but I’ve never read a story about the other men in the expedition. I thought it kind of humorus that the book started out by saying that many people didn’t believe the stories that Reubin Field told. I enjoyed reading and learning about the expedition and what they did. The Native Americans were instrumental in their survival.

Related Texts:
*Lewis and Clark for Kids: Their Journey of Discovery with 21 Activities by Janis Herbert
*National Geographic- Lewis & Clark- Great Journey West DVD by Burgess Meredith

Other:
This book is a children’s picture book with 32 pages. It was an easy and enjoyable read. The illustrations on the cover consist of a group of men from the Corps of Discovery. The end pages at the beginning of the book are a two-page spread of a colorful painting of a sunset with the Corps of Discovery across the bottom. The end pages at the back of the book are a map. This map represents the work the men did. The pages throughout the book remind me of journal pages. Small drawings scattered over several pages also add to this feel. The drawings are brown and stand out from the rest of the illustrations. The author’s writing style is conversational. She even asks you questions throughout the book.