Tamara England

Josefina learned a wide variety of skills classical of the Southwest US in the early 1800s influenced by Mexican (and Spanish) traditions, Pueblo traditions, and frontier necessities. The girl appropriate crafts include: appliqué box, painted frame, lantern, broom, fringed shawl, glass bead necklace, decorated hair comb, stamped leather bookmark, coil pot, moccasins, colcha embroidery, fringed sash, hen pincushion,cornhusk doll, and pon top game. All the crafts are introduced with historical context and pictures of artifacts.… (mais)

Everything in this book has already been published somewhere else - Samantha's Cooking, Crafts, or the American Girls' Party Book. The only advantage this book has over the others is a list in the back of books, movies and music appropriate to the historical time period, which might be useful if you were doing a classroom unit on it, or just looking to broaden your child's horizons in a non-obvious way. There is also a list of places to visit that the authors deem of historical interest, but I found that to be less about historical re-enactment (what I was hoping for), and more about how the authors view the social concerns of Samantha's day. Hull House was listed, for instance.… (mais)