Robin Falls Kids - A Conversation WITH YOU

A Conversation with YOU, Hosted by April Robins, welcomes Author Pat McCarthy. Pat taught elementary school for 30 years, so she has a pretty good idea of what kids like and what they can read at different levels. Pat has 14 books published, all for kids. But she is most excited about her new book, Heading West: Life with the Pioneers, from Chicago Review Press. That’s because it will be the first book that is sold in bookstores. All the other books were for schools and libraries. Pat wanted to write a book about the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder, who wrote Little House on the Prairie. Her editor thought if I made it about all pioneers, it would sell better, so she did that. Most of the books on the show are fiction – stories. Pat’s book is nonfiction. She had to do a lot of research to find all the facts needed. She read lots of diaries, journals and letters that the pioneers wrote. She tried to pick out things that would be interesting to kids. When she quoted things the pioneers had written, she paid special attention to what the pioneer kids had to say. Her book tells about how the West was explored and the men who blazed the trails. It tells about the trip West by train, boat, on foot, but mostly by covered wagon. A chapter tells about the kinds of homes pioneers had and how they built them. Another chapter tells about pioneer communities. Then there are chapters about pioneer men, pioneer women, and pioneer children. The end of the book tells about the end of the pioneer era. The book also has 21 activities for kids to do with their parents. You can learn to make butter, play pioneer games, make toys, and lots of other fun things. Pat’s site is www.patmccarthysauthorwebsite.blogspot.com