Joan Sandin

The Long Way to a New Land

Summary:
There was no rain fall all one summer when Carl Erick's father received a letter from Uncle Axel from America. Carl Erick's father informs the family that they are going to America. They ride a train to Liverpool then took a steamboat to America. While on the steamboat some of the passengers got sick, and one passenger died, Carl Erick's father was given a book of English phrases written by a Swedish passenger on the boat. The family arrives in America and the father, whose name is Anders gets a job, and plans to build a house soon.

Reaction:
I enjoyed the story and the pictures of the story. I thought the pictures did a very good job at showing the family at many different stages throughout their journey. The setting of the story was on a train, and a steamboat as the family traveled to America. The character of the father, Anders is a loving father and husband that is trying to provide for his family. He sees the only way to do that is to travel to America. I found it difficult to relate to this story because I have never moved in my life.

Extension Ideas:
1.The story can be an introduction to a unit on immigration.
2.The story shows the hardships immigrants went through coming to America.
3.The story shows two different ways immigrants traveled to America.… (meer)

This book was cute but could have been shortened a lot. I liked the ending when Bearly turned up in the family portrait. What I did not like about the book is that it does not tell you why Bearly doesn't come our to get his picture taken. The book lets you assume that he is shy but you are never given a real answer as to why. The book does a good job of setting the scene around the pioneer era. The book shows you what the houses, dress and food is like at the time. The main idea of this book is to delve into another era but add a cute, intriguing twist to it.… (meer)

The purpose of the story is to entertain and provide some visuals of the pioneer times such as farms, clothing, and technology (camera). I liked how the author gave the bear a sense of personality such as hiding on top of the roof, peaking at the boy through the window, and overall bashful for having a new visitor came to the house. His actions reflected a shy but curious personality where he wanted to observe what was happening, but wanted to keep his distance. The only thing I wasn’t too sure about was the author’s decision to underline particular words such as “was” and “told” as there were no defined terms on the side or in the back of the book. The reader may have a misunderstanding or question as to why the author decided to do this and for what reason. Since it is not clear, it serves as a distraction from the story and as readers read. Overall, however, the progression of the story had a nice surprise at the end where the bear ends up not being lost at all, but just hiding up in the tree. I find young children may like this surprise at the end.… (meer)

I thought this book was a great book for middle school. The level is level 3 but I think that old students may benefit as well. The book is about a family who travels from Sweden to America (specifically Minnesota). I thought this book was resourceful because it describes the hard times immigrants went through. For example, the two boys snuck on first class. Instead of saying something politely, the ticket guy threw them to the regular section which was cramped and dirty. This book really allows students to understand the challenges that some people faced when traveling to America.… (meer)