Grandfather's Gold Watch
Grade 2-4?This quiet story of hardship and determination follows Peter and his family as they leave their native Denmark and sail for America. Before they depart, Grandfather gives Peter two gifts, his name and his precious gold watch, encouraging the boy to make his name honorable and to use his time wisely. Peter experiences the adventures and perils of an ocean crossing, a train journey, and the difficult covered-wagon trek to the Salt Lake Valley. Along the way, his father dies and the watch is lost. Once they arrive at the settlement, Peter works hard and marries. Forty years later, he speaks at a state celebration. There, a man in the audience reunites him with the lost watch, which Peter then passes to his grandson with the same time-proven advice he received all those years ago. This lengthy picture book is illustrated with black-and-white pen-and-ink drawings on white backgrounds. Stippling, hatching, and fine detailing enhance the artwork but the overall result is still somber. The text captures the difficulty of the trek but remains at an emotional distance from the characters. As a supplement to units on the Westward expansion, Peter's tale will make more human this courageous endeavor but its gravity and stolidity may limit its audience.?Carol Ann Wilson, Westfield Memorial Library, NJCopyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.