Synopsis
This illustrated adventure story about a boy, his cat and his skeptical father is based on real-life history of the Klondike Gold Rush.
School Library Journal
PreS-Gr 2-Noah and his father join the stampede north when they read the headlines, "Gold in the Klondike! Nuggets the Size of a Man's Fist!" Lawson's tale and Mombourquette's oil paintings provide a child's-eye view of the rush to Dawson in the 1890s. Noah's smuggling of his cat on the northbound steamboat journey is made believable by Shadow's escape to the lower holds of the ship immediately upon boarding. At disembarkation, Pa gives conditional permission for the pet to continue with them. Not only does Shadow survive the rigors of the Chilkoot Pass and the other perils along the trail, but she also enables Noah's father to stake his claim when he doesn't have the money to do so; these charming kittens fetch an ounce of gold as miners contemplate a long Yukon winter and enter into a bidding war for such a scarce commodity. This is a good choice for reading aloud in the manner of Gloria Rand's Baby in a Basket (Dutton, 1997); it's light on the history, better on the evocation of the period and setting. A note fills in the historical detail.-Sue Sherif, Alaska State Library, Anchorage Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.