Patty Reed's Doll, The Story of the Donner Party by Rachel K. Laurgaard

Patty Reed's Doll - Housed in the Sutter's Fort State Historical Park Museum in Sacramento, California

This book was first published in 1956. It is often used in classrooms across America. I'm not sure why I decided to pick it up to read but I'm glad I did.

"In the winter of 1846, the Donner Party was stranded by heavy snows in the Sierra Nevada mountains. The pioneers endured bitter hardships, and many of them died. But some survived, including 8-year-old Patty Reed, a girl filled with dignity and determination in the face of mortal danger. This is her story, as told by Dolly, the wooden doll she kept hidden in her dress."

I really enjoyed reading about the trek from Springfield, Illinois to California in 1846. Their trials - the fun they had in the beginning. I've heard about the Donner Party all my life but "Patty Reed's Doll" added a few things I hadn't known about. Our history is quick to tell us about the bad, doesn't always point out the good things that happened. It's a very age appropriate for grades 4 and up.

It is not a political book at all. But as I finished it, I thought about the direction our country is heading at this point in history and realized we really have - as a country - forgotten how hard our ancestors worked to gain the freedoms we once had. 

Dolly said at the end of the book:

"And so I stayed with Patty always. She could not bear to part with me after all we had shared together. We had been pioneers across the plains and mountains and deserts to California, and in that long year since we had left Springfield, we had known the worst suffering that pioneers can know." 

If you google this book you will find numerous web sites with information for using this book in the classroom.

Rachel Kelley Laurgaard wrote Patty Reed's Doll as a master's thesis at Sacramento State College in 1956, where she also taught English. She lived for many years in Oakland, where she died in 2000.

Now that I've finished "Patty Reed's Doll" I'm passing it on to one of my grands to read - then hoping for a good discussion with her!