Explore the Wild West!: With 25 Great Projects    by Anita Yasuda & Alex Kim Order:  USA  Can Nomad, 2012 (2012) Softcover     Reviewed by Bob Walch There are 25 great projects in this book that will engage youngsters ages six and up and teach them about the rigors of living in the American West. The seven sections of the book cover moving west, pioneer life, frontier towns, lawmen, the gold rush, native people and cowboys. Sprinkled throughout these sections are Words to Know boxes, which define special vocabulary such as moccasin, bunkhouse, travois and boomtown. Another highlighted content box, Did You Know?, features special facts about the west. For example, you'll learn that in 1871, 1874, and 1875, swarms of grasshoppers devoured half the crops on the Plains. They also ate boots, clothes and even door frames if they couldn't find enough wheat or corn to munch on! The activities or projects in the book include learning how to set up a game of Buffalo Bill Horseshoes, making a frontier food called hardtack, and fashioning your own set of cowboy chaps. Each activity comes with complete directions and a list of needed materials. This book would probably be most useful for either an elementary school teacher planning a history lesson or parents involved in homeschooling. There is plenty of information about the West worked into a running narrative that makes this a decent history book as well; this isn't just a collection of activities. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Kids books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews