Randall A. Reinstedt

This book was written to be a nonfiction work, but it is not as scholarly as I would like. There was no formal work-cited page or even an index. There were only (occasionally) casual author's notes abut people, places, and events mentioned in the book. However, I found a few of Reinstedt's "tales" told about rancho customs (bull and bear fights, fandangos, rodeos) interesting and compelling. The book had accessible text for a fourth grader. Reinstedt claims that the hide and tallow trade was "a dark page in California history" because thousands of animals were killed for their skins." This is a different perspective! Unfortunately, most of the "tales" of the ranchos were not really from the period of Mexican cattle ranchos; rather they were part of the Gold Rush era.… (lisätietoja)

Reviewed July 2006

I have heard this story several times and I guess it has been quite a long time as I forgot about Charlie being the first woman to vote in the U.S. That itself is pretty amazing. there is so much I still need to learn about CA history these stories just amaze me. The author Reinstedt writes that he teaches teachers how to bring history (through workshops for teachers) into the classroom as “living history”. Maybe he does it the same way that the character in this story, Mr. Perkins does in the classroom setting. Using props from the times you are teaching that can be passed around, holding students interest is one way. I think I would like to find Charlies’s grave in Watsonville and pay my respects, some day soon.

12-2006… (lisätietoja)