You Wouldn't Want to Live in a Wild West Town! Book

Looks through the eyes of the fictional marshal of an imaginary town called Dustville to show what life was like on the Great Plains just after the Civil War.

Children's Literature

The Wild West is a chapter in American history that has consistently captured the imagination of readers. In this selection, author Peter Hicks takes readers back into a western town as he chronicles the perils of a frontier sheriff. Yet, while this story provides some points of interest, the overall nature of this book is clearly open to question. All too many of the illustrations incorporate violence, gore, mayhem, and graphically offensive subject matter. Do younger readers need to see a moldered corpse riddled with bullet holes? Should blood splattered buffalo hunters be portrayed as they slowly skin a dead animal next to a wagon dripping in gore? Is it appropriate to scatter images of violence across virtually every page? The answer to these questions should be a resounding "NO." Thus, due to the misguided approach of the author, illustrator, and publisher, aimed at capturing children's interest through sensationalism, this book typifies the worst possible elements of history writing for younger readers. Additionally, this book features racially offensive representations of Native Americans that were common in literature printed in a far less enlightened era. Therefore, this is a book not only to avoid but one that crosses over the line of responsible scholarship. One in the "You Wouldn't Want to Be" series. 2002, Franklin Watts, Romaneck