I just finished reading this with my children. They’re 10, 7, 6, and 4. And they all loved it! It was a cute story and a fun read.
The majority of the book surrounds Danny, a boy who finds gold just as captivating as we do today. With the story set in Utah, rather than the likely California, the gold is found in the rushing river, which leads to both exciting finds and outright embarrassment for little Danny. My girls asked to read the next chapter with every sitting; this would be a great read in a group and perfect for boys, especially ones who love adventure and discovery. Also, Pa’s love for Ma is exactly the role model I want for my family. It felt like his love was hidden in every chapter.
My daughter really enjoyed this book. She said it was so fascinating how they lived back then. She really liked reading about how hard the family worked and how they found gold in the hills.
My husband and I took turns reading this book to our 7 year old and 5 year old. We very much enjoyed it since we live in the Northwest. The kids were laughing at the “colorful” description of panning for gold.
We really enjoyed this cute little book! It was a read aloud for our girls! Our 6 year old really enjoyed it and it made her think about things from “back in the day” as she puts it!
The two children watched and waved until the figures grew smaller and smaller. At last the big, white-topped wagon rolled slowly around a bend in the dusty road. Then they could no longer see their old farm.
Daniel and Betsy blinked their blue eyes before they looked at each other. Pa had said that they must not cry when they left their nice farm. They must be happy all the way down the wide valley and across the Cascade Mountains. They must smile as they went up, up into the Blue Mountains of eastern Oregon.
“I give Gold Mountain top scores in every category: educational worth, literary merit, moral excellence, and entertainment value. The mission of The Good and the Beautiful is to bring books back to the world that are lovely and praiseworthy—books like Gold Mountain. Let’s give our children the best books and leave behind ‘junk food’ books that promote low character!” —Jenny Phillips
86 pages
This book is a suggested read-aloud for the History Year 3 course.