Wagons Ho!: Then and Now on the Oregon Trail

By George Hallowell, Joan Holub and Lynne Avril

Best Children's Books of the Year 2012, Bank Street College
Recommended Read - Kansas State Reading Circle
2011 Reading the West Shortlist, Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association
2011 Book Links Lasting Connection

One girl moves to Oregon in a covered wagon, the other in a mini-van in this look at two cross-country moves.

What do buffalo, butter churns, and a mini-van have in common? A trip to Oregon, of course! In Wagons, Ho!, two girls move from Missouri to Oregon more than a century apart. Both girls will miss their old homes, but they'll discover new adventures on the road. Readers will love this unique look at history as they empathize with the struggles of moving to a new town while learning about the trials of the Oregon Trail.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company
• Release date: Sep 1, 2011
• ISBN: 9780807593400

George Hallowell

George Hallowell is an architect, award-winning photographer, and author of numerous articles who has an interest in buried treasure and old mining towns. He has hiked the Oregon Trail and has visited every state in the U.S. except Alaska. This is his first book.

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Reviews for Wagons Ho!

[jverke_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great children's book that compares a modern day American family on the move with a Pioneer family on their way west.

[debnance_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The story of a family moving from Missouri to Oregon in 1846 and now, is told in two parallel journals that invite comparison and contrast. The ways the two families do things both then and now are very different and yet often the same.In 1846: “Our trip will take five months from May to September. I’ve heard that some people die on the trail. I hope we survive the journey.”Now: “We will leave on July 1st. Our trip will take five days, from Monday to Friday. I’ve never been on the road in a car for five whole days. All that driving---not to mention my brother driving me crazy the whole way. How will I survive?”