cbr14bingo Cold Level 1 & 2
(Images taken from online)
I Survived the Children’s Blizzard, 1888 (I Survived, #16) by Lauren Tarshis is an easy read for stronger readers but could capture some reluctant readers with the boy narrator and the adventure of the blizzard. The ages could start as young as six or seven for the more advanced reader, as there is little in the way of content that could be considered “too much” (I am sure cartoons and movies today have worse), but the sensitive reader might not be “okay” with the fact they do mention death, there are scenes with a large rattlesnake (with mentions and showing of a gun and the weapons (hoe, shovel, sticks) when the boys go to hunt the rattlesnake) and the blizzard itself as the child might freeze and what happened after the blizzard and loss of body parts due to hyperthermia, etc). The upper end would be about 10 years old but could go to a young eleven or twelve for a less strong reader.
This series would work well in classroom setting. The afterwards are informative with bonus references. And there are a few black and white illustrations in the text itself and photographs in the afterwards helping to fill in the text, highlighting areas of importance to the story or to accent a scene to show how life is lived.
As a kid, I would have probably loved this book and gone onto others in the series. As an adult, however, I found several bumps in the road. The first being I had read this story before. Anyone who has read any book set in the late 1880s (Little House on the Prairie I am looking at you for one version) you have read this story. That does not make it bad, but my adult brain was saying it had read “better.” Another issue was the voice was modern and that took me out of the setting a bit. Of course, that will not matter to a today reader as it will keep their attention. Overall, I do like this book, and will probably read others, but not necessarily read this again.
