Lewis and Papa set out on a journey across the Santa Fe Trail. Lewis is scared, but looks to his Papa for guidance. On the trail, Papa teaches Lewis what it really means to be man-that it is ok to cry and be scared. Most importantly, Papa teaches Lewis courage and that they can accomplish anything as they make their way to the end of the trail.
This book teaches students that everyone has emotions and that it is how you express them that matters. I thought it was really neat how the author tied this lesson in with the historical aspect of the Santa Fe Trail. This book also teaches children how rough the trail was and what kind of struggles the travelers faced. Overall a good read. ( )

Lewis and Papa is set in 1821, and it tells the story of a man and his son taking on the Santa Fe Trail. In need of money, Lewis joins his papa along the Santa Fe Trail in order to go sell some of their goods. Along the way, Lewis sees what its really like to be a man. He originally had a distorted view of what being a man was. He thought being a man was to be brave, and his father taught him that even the bravest men still cry. The story showed value in spending time with the ones you love. It was incredibly heartwarming, and exciting to ride the trail with Lewis and his papa. The illustrator of the story did a great job with depicting the story with art. One thing that I enjoyed was the illustrator included pictures of the map as Lewis and his father traveled along the trail. At the end of the story, the author included a glossary of terms used throughout the story, which could assist students in focusing in more on the historical aspects of the story. This was an exciting read, and could be appreciated by many different students. ( )

Lewis is only a young boy when Papa, his father, decides to take him on the Santa Fe trail. Papa wanted to make money, and the best way to do that was to take the trail to Santa Fe. Along the way, Lewis and Papa formed a new bond and grew closer than before. They were together through the triumphs and the challenges, through the happy times and the sad. Lewis wanted Papa to teach him to be a man, which he did, but Lewis taught Papa as well. In the end, their journey together and their new bond was more valuable than the money they were after. I enjoyed reading this book because it brought a new perspective to the Santa Fe trail for me. This would be a great book to incorporate a social studies lesson with because of the various opportunities throughout the book to stop and investigate the history behind it. The setting propelled the story because of the time period and what Lewis and Papa were after. Also, if they were not travelling along the Santa Fe trial, the story would not be the same. I do not think this book would be as effective if the setting was different. ( )

Lewis and Papa: Adventure on the Santa Fe Trail is a tale about a father and son traveling west in the 1820s, headed for Santa Fe to sell a wagon full of goods. Lewis accompanies his Papa on the trade route of the Santa Fe. They experience many hard hardships and Lewis learns from his father how to become a man. At such a young age, Lewis had to endure leaving his sister and mother behind, being scared of coyotes, a buffalo attacking, and his ox, big red, dying. Throughout all this, Lewis father managed to teach him a valuable lesson. He teaches him it’s okay to be scared in hard times, it is okay to cry when you are sad. He shows him that being that person doesn’t mean you aren’t a man and I believe that is the theme of this story. The setting has had a major effect on this story. Taken place in the Santa Fe trial which is known to be long and hard trail in the days shows that Lewis did experience hardship and learned plenty from his father. ( )