The Pony Express Book List
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My oldest son has been listening to the story of the Pony Express and the California Gold Rush from My Story Hour. Over and over. We currently have MANY conversations about these two subjects. Since my husband and I are avid history lovers, it's so much fun to see our son beginning to enjoy it as well. In light of this current trend of interest and conversations, I decided it would be fun to put together an informal unit study about the Pony Express. Mostly it will contain lots of living books, narration, and notebooking.
If you are looking for a fun way to study this period of history, I hope you will many books to fall in love with on this list.
Disclaimer: Because the Pony Express happened when the country was being pioneered, most of the books contain mentions of fights between settlers and the local Native American tribes. Most of the books speak respectfully of these exchanges, but I tried my best to point out below if there was anything that was questionable. Also, most of the books also mention the oath that the Pony Express riders had to take in order to become part of the company. This oath includes mentions of gambling, drinking, and profanity, however, it is only mentioned in the context that the riders were promising not to do these things.
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The Pony Express
Fiction & Non Fiction | Ages 5-7
by Caroline Starr Rose
We get to follow along on Will Cody's famous Pony Express ride.
by Eleanor Coerr
A story about Buffalo Bill and how he rode in the Pony Express.
by Verla Kay
Through rythmic text, this book tells the story of a family through letters delivered by the Pony Express.
by Jacqueline Geis
This story follows the westbound journey of the Pony Express.
*There is one mention of a ghost.
Fiction & Non Fiction | Ages 8-10
by Michael Spradlin
This story gives a wonderful picture of and depicts the first ride of the Pony Express.
by Darice Bailer
While visiting a museum, Kevin travels back in time and becomes Warren Upson, a famous Pony Express rider.
by Marlene Targ Brill
In this book we get to learn about Pony Express Rider, Bronco Charlie.
by Andrew Glass
In this story, you get a close up description of Will Cody's Sweetwater ride.
*This book is a little "rough around the edges". There is a surly character. Please review before allowing your children to read it.
by Amy C. Rae
Very interactive and informative. This book does well at giving extra information on the history and details of the Pony Express.
by Thomas Ratliff
This interactive book will give you a glimpse into the hard and dangerous parts of being a Pony Express rider.
by Jessica Gunderson
Tells the story of the building, running, and closing of the Pony Express mail delivery system in a graphic novel style. *Contains one swear word.
Fiction & Non Fiction | Ages 11+
by Holly Hughes
Eleven-year-old Annie, works with Billy Cody to figure out who is sabatoging her favorite pony.
by Ralph Moody
This book contains a swear word.
It also contains descriptive fights
with Indians and wounds riders
experience. There are also some
Indian slurs and name-calling.
The reason I added this
book is because it contains
very descriptive rides of many of the
riders and gives a very good picture of
what it would've been like during this time.