E has been enjoying reading Jem Strikes Gold and Jem's Frog Fiasco, the first two books in the Goldtown Beginnings Series by author Susan K. Marlow and published by Kregel Publications. This is set to be a six book series.
Book 1 and Book 2
E with our new books!
This series is geared for readers ages 6-9 and features 7 year old Jem Coulter. It takes place in 1859 during the height of the Gold Rush. Jem and his family pan gold in California. You will journey with Jem on lots of adventures and learn valuable life lessons along the way! Both of our books are ~ 80 pages in length with ten chapters each.
Book 1 of the series: Jem Strikes Gold
E diving right into book 1.
In Jem Strikes Gold, Jem's family is trying to make a go of it in Goldtown, California. Jem's Pa pans for gold while his Mama bakes pies and washes laundry to help make ends meet. Jem and Ellie, his little sister, do whatever they can to help. Will Sterling, a rich boy who is mean, picks on Jem whenever possible. When Will's antics affect Jem's family's livelihood, Jem has had enough. When a scrawny dog arrives on the scene, Jem might have the answer to all his problems. And he might strike gold in an unexpected way.
Book 2 of the series: Jem's Frog Fiasco
Book 2 picks up right where Book 1 left off. In Jem's Frog Fiasco, Jem has to buy food for Gold Nugget, his dog! His failed panning attempts for gold lead him to catch bullfrogs for the cafe's owner. After an argument with Ellie, his little sister, Jem has great success with catching frogs. When Ellie goes missing, Jem is reminded of their argument. Can he find her in time?
New Words List
Both books include a new words list at the very beginning. I think this is helpful for kids to pre-read the words and meanings so that when they come across them, they will understand them.
A Peek into the Past
Similarly, both books include a peek into the past section at the very end. This section in Book 1 discusses gold and mining; whereas, this section in Book 2 talks about coyote holes.
E really likes the illustrations by Okan Bulbul. Each chapter has one black and white illustration, sometimes they are half a page and sometimes the illustrations are a full page.
Example of a half page illustration
Example of a full page illustration
There are free language arts educational units to accompany this entire series available here including lapbooks, activity guides, coloring pages and more. This is a great resource and I highly recommend it!
Enrichment Materials Available
Above you can see an Activity Guide schedule for Jem Strikes Gold. There is one for Jem's Frog Fiasco as well. There are lots of great activity sheets along with a handy dandy answer key.
The coloring pages are sweet and there are suggested fun activities to go along with some of them as well.
Here's an activity sheet for Book 1.
Here is a maze activity for Book 1.
And here is a coloring page for Book 2.
These books are great for young children to read independently and also work as fun read-alouds, especially for younger children. E really enjoyed reading both of them so much that I am reading them to the younger boys now. I appreciate that they help make history come alive for children as they can really get a picture of what life was like during the Gold Rush. If you are looking for a fun adventure series we definitely recommend this one. We are looking forward to the next books in this series which are due to release March 2020.
As always, be sure to click on the banner below to visit the Homeschool Review Crew blog to read more reviews of Jem's Adventures from Kregel Publications.
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