What Was the Gold Rush?

We were studying the Gold Rush in their history class, so the kids read this book. I would say these books are a 3rd or 4th grade level. My sixth graders read it and liked it, but it was a very quick and easy read for them. My fourth grader was easily able to read it, but it wasn't as quick for him. He, in particular, loves the "What Is.." and "Who Was..." books. Full of good information about the Gold Rush. It makes a great supplementary resource on the subject. Or a great non-fiction reading book for a kid who isn't into fiction.

Great for my 4th graders!

Amazing series... My son read five in less than a month.

Interesting book for you children.

My 8 yr old boy loved it!

Great for kids ages 7-12

my kids all love the who/what was series.

Great book! My sons 4th grade class is studying the gold rush and he read this quickly and easily during his spring break. Lots of interesting stories and fact that he would stop and tell us along the way. he had a lot of great things to share with his classmates during their discussions about the goldrush.

A popular book in my class library.

Good information

We were studying the Gold Rush in their history class, so the kids read this book. I would say these books are a 3rd or 4th grade level. My sixth graders read it and liked it, but it was a very quick and easy read for them. My fourth grader was easily able to read it, but it wasn't as quick for him. He, in particular, loves the "What Is.." and "Who Was..." books. Full of good information about the Gold Rush. It makes a great supplementary resource on the subject. Or a great non-fiction reading book for a kid who isn't into fiction.

Great for my 4th graders!

Amazing series... My son read five in less than a month.

Interesting book for you children.

My 8 yr old boy loved it!

Great for kids ages 7-12

my kids all love the who/what was series.

Great book! My sons 4th grade class is studying the gold rush and he read this quickly and easily during his spring break. Lots of interesting stories and fact that he would stop and tell us along the way. he had a lot of great things to share with his classmates during their discussions about the goldrush.

A popular book in my class library.

Good information

We love this series.

Its a book

I teach this in my 4th grade classroom so it was a great book to read to them whole group.

Important to know history for child for the past should be known by all

I think it was a good book because I like learning about gold. I wish that South Dakota. It was a big thing in the gold rush. Other wise it was a good book.

I like this book although it had way too many pictures so it got me off focus, but it's a children's book so it really didn't matter.

It has so interesting and beautiful concept that my son loves to read too.

My reluctant reader enjoyed reading this book to me! I am always happy to find a good book that he enjoys reading!

Very informative

This Was a good book. Good history. Great for kids. Good Pictures. Goes back into time. 4 stars. Great maps.

My son greatly enjoys these books and is able to AR Test at school with them (fourth grader) Great short history books and bio of people of interest.

This was for my granddaughter's schoo summer reading program. She liked it.

I absolutely love the "Who Was/Is..." and "What Was..." book series. Great for mom and dad to "catch up", too.

this book was very interesting I would of never read this book if my school didn't assign it .I have only read a few parts of some of these books . they sure can teach you a lot of interesting stuff that kids my age probably would never know or care about. I would rate this book a four and a half

Great

I thought this book was a great book to learn about the California gold rush. I also think all the "who was" books are great and easy books to read.=)

My 9 year old daughter loves all things history and this book was just another great book in the series. I highly suggest any books similar for your kids,

Great book. Came on time.

I bought this for elementary library I work at. Students love it, it is constantly checked out.

A really nice introduction to this subject. Covers a lot of areas.

This book is an okay book, but you should still read it. I recommend it for 10 years and older.

good read for my grandson

The book was good but if you watch gold rush on TV i don't recommend it but it is a very good book. :)

bought this for my grandson and he loved it

Great kids book.

great for the grand children

Just got my first three in this series, and my students have enjoyed all three. This series is similar to the Who Was/Who Is series that brings non-fiction to kids in an inviting way. Great for my fourth grade students.

My son loved it

It's a good book on the gold rush. People who want to know about the gold rush should get this book.

This book was cool I really liked it but it was missing some key info about the California Gold Rush

Love this book! It is all about the amazing gold rush that happened in 1848! I would highly recommend this book!

Excellent and informative.

Very informative book written and illustrated just perfectly for any age group. The cover illustration is awesome as are the others. Really grabs your attention among other educational books. Would highly recommend it for children and adults.

My son loves this series of books. He read this quickly and is now spouting facts on the Gold Rush. I highly recommend this series.

SUPER!!!

The book was delightful - more like a children's story. The illustrations were wonderful. You can read it in an hour or less.

I enjoyed this book. It mentioned a couple of very interesting facts. Recommend it to everyone. Especially people who are interested in important history like this.

I bought this for my 9 yr. old nephew. He loved it

Fast shipping

One of the best books I have ever read worth every penny I love this book so much it is so kray kray

This is a childs book, very few pages of information, although what is there was good. So fro a novice this would be an introduction.

{My Thoughts} – The Gold Rush was an important time period that had taken place in 1848. It helped to shape the United States into much of what it is today. This book teaches the reader many of the significant events that had occurred from 1799-1914. The event that is most focused on is the Gold Rush, but because of the Gold Rush so many other important events had taken place. When you think about the Gold Rush you think of all the people that had rushed to California to mine Gold. That isn’t the only location in which gold mining had taken place. It also isn’t the only job that had been available at the time. It is true that finding gold wasn’t an easy task and that many people had died trying, but that didn’t stop them from trying. There were also those individual’s that had found ways to make a living even though they didn’t want to mine gold. Many of the bushinesses that had begun during the events of the Gold Rush are still around today. It was interesting to learn that so many of them that we know of now were created back then and that they’s survived all those years. I love reading about and learning history. It’s one of my favorite subjects. I enjoy being able to learn more about subjects that interest me and subjects that I didn’t otherwise know much about. I think that this book is wonderful for kids and that it could easily be used as a summary of events should a parent or teacher want to quiz a child on what they learned. It can also be a nice read for a child just enjoys learning facts about the country in which we live in. Either way it’s nicely written and extremely informative.

When everyone thinks about a gold rush, inevitably they think about the California Gold Rush of 1849. It actually wasn’t the first gold rush in the United States. In 1799 a twelve-year-old boy discovered a nugget in a creek. Not thinking much about the seventeen-pound rock he dredged up, the family “used it as a doorstop.” Naturally once it was found to be gold, word got around and the rush was on. James Marshall “was building a sawmill for John Sutter” early in 1848 when he saw something very unusual in the waters below. He saw what appeared to be gold in the water, but was it “fool’s gold” or the real thing? Testing proved that it was indeed the real thing, but the only problem was that John Sutter didn’t own the land. A bit greedy, “he needed to gain control of it, and fast.” The Nisenan Native Americans were more than happy to accept his trinkets and sign a treaty, but “only the US government had the power to make treaties.” Try as he might, his little secret soon became known. Everyone from his farmhands to the masses in San Francisco learned about it. The simple headline, “Gold Mind Found,” let loose a torrent that resulted in the famous California Gold Rush of 1849. Men like Sam Brannan believed they “could get rich selling tools and supplies” to the prospectors. Thousands of gold-hunters began to arrive by ship and over land. President James K. Polk’s belief in Manifest Destiny spurred even more to move west. Traveling was fraught with unforeseen danger and disease. Not all was what it seemed. Unscrupulous business men were there to grubstake prospectors when they made their claims. Prices for everything were high and “dishonest merchants sold them fake gold-mining gadgets.” In this book you’ll also learn about mining camps, staking a claim, placer gold, miner’s tools, the scarcity of women and children, some famous finds, Thomas Stoddard’s “lake of gold,” lawlessness, the “Miners’ Ten Commandments,” and you’ll learn many other interesting things about the Gold Rush. This is a fascinating book about the California Gold rush that young readers will love. There are many little details about not only the California Gold Rush, but the seldom discussed rushes that came before it. Naturally, they have almost drifted into obscurity along with some other interesting facts. For example, I’ve never heard of young Loretta Crabtree who “sang and danced for the miners.” She was obviously a child star of her time who became rich because of the gold rush. The book is generously illustrated with black and white line drawings, maps, and is interspersed with numerous informative sidebars. The sidebars are one- and two-page spreads. For example one is about Levi Strauss. There is a sixteen-page spread of glossy photographs and ephemera reproductions. In the back of the book is a bibliography, a Timeline of the World (1845 to 1914), and a Timeline of the Gold Rush (1799 to 1885). This book courtesy of the author.

This is an excellent book, both to teach history and interest young and even older students in what happened during, not only the California gold rush but other gold rushes. It begins with a gold rush in North Carolina in 1799 and includes a bit about the Klondike. The ages that could read this would be about 8 years and up. There are black and white drawings, illustrations, maps and 16 pages of actual photographs. There is very good information on how the gold was found, how the people got to the gold fields, worked their claims, what the towns were like, and who got richest, ( the shopkeepers and cooks ). How the gold rush changed America and timelines are included. This is composed in a clear and attention-grabbing fashion. It is not written `down' to young people, which is why older readers would find this appealing.

Seems like the experience was altogether miserable. Lol. It did however cause more of the West to become populated. Interesting

This series of books by Joan Holub are PERFECT! 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade and up! Pictures and larger print help so much when getting a young 9yr old to read about history. When they are a bit older, this is a great book for them to read alone and be captivated! The facts are spot on and it is so helpful when not going into WAY TOO MUCH detail about something you know your kid will never remember! It is just the right amount of story to make them reading it possible! Strongly recommend any of her books in this area. Thank you Joan! Now keep coming out with more!! :)

I discovered this series when looking for books for a 3rd grade teacher who teaches informational text in a urban elementary school. The students loved this series, especially the girls. Very well received by the teacher and students.

This is a great easy to read book , that explains the historical event of the Gold Rush in a way that young readers can understand . Great addition to the What Was ...series !

Nice array of info about the era, from the miners, the salemen who capitalized on the situation, the city of San Francisco, etc.

whey to many pictures am i right? i am ten and i like books with no pics so not a good book for me. well the writing part was good.

This book was very incisive and very well written. I would highly recommend it.

I like to learning about gold... My Mom recommended this book. I like the part when they searched for gold.

We love the Who Was/Who Is/Where Is series! Great stories, even I like to read them along with my daughter. So happy to have found books my 9 year old will read!

J'ai acheté ce livre pour illustrer un cours niveau 3ème sur le rêve californien. Les informations apportées sont très complètes et exactes, complétées par des illustrations de qualité, et des photos d'époque. Le texte est tout à fait abordable pour un niveau A2+ vers B1.