Sacagawea

Children's Literature

This is a photo-illustrated biography of Sacagawea, the Indian girl who helped Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on their expedition of the Louisiana Territory. It is a short, clear book giving general information about this much-written-about American Indian. There are lots of facts given in a concise way beginning with the meaning of Sacagawea's name and then moving on to the Shoshone tribe and how she was captured by the Hidatsa. The rest of the book deals with how Sacagawea came to be a part of the Lewis and Clark expedition and how she helped them find food and recognize the different areas of the land. In the end, Sacagawea's life was a mystery. When and where she died is still a mystery. There is nothing new on Sacagawea's life in Witteman's book, but the photos are colorful and the information presented is quick and easily readable.

School Library Journal

Gr 2-4-These slim series entries spotlight their subjects' contributions to the exploration and frontier periods of U.S. history. Each spread consists of an illustration on one page with large-print text on the other. Crockett clearly separates fact and legend by sharing the tall-tale aspects of the man's life in the first and last chapters with chronologically organized, informational chapters as the primary focus in between. In Sacagawea, the author details the woman's role in the Lewis and Clark expedition as well as her Shoshone background, early marriage, and family while making it clear that actual facts about her life are limited. Captioned, high-quality photographs and adequate-quality reproductions appear in both books. While David Adler's "Picture Book Biography" series (Holiday) presents similar material about these figures in a more narrative style, some students may find the short, succinct sections of these books easier to read and easier for information retrieval.-Janie Schomberg, Leal Elementary School, Urbana, IL Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.