Book #3: Annie Oakley by Chuck Wills
Title: Annie Oakley (DK Biography)
Author: Chuck (Charles M.) Wills
Genre: Biography, history, kidlit
Annie Oakley first picked up a gun at the age of eight. She was a natural, and her success as a hunter helped greatly with family finances. By age 22, Annie was performing for money. She went on to travel the world, even snuffing out candle flames and knocking corks from bottles for Queen Victoria, and eventually straight into American hearts as the country's first female superstar. (from the blurb)
I picked this up some time ago, intending to read it after another book in which Annie was a side character. As I finished that and picked up this, I was glad to learn her story from the start because she was so fascinating.
The book starts with Annie at a high point in her life - definitely where she was when I read about her in any detail for the first time - as a member of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. From there it goes back to her Quaker upbringing in Ohio (where she was always proud of being from), through her early days and how she eventually took up showbusiness, to her status as an icon and the legacy she left the U. S.
I like that Wills plainly acknowledges that there are many contradicting versions of some important events in Annie's life - and points them out in their place, and tells the differing stories - and some things we just don't know.
Another thing that I like about this is that in some sections, Wills puts Annie's story into context. So, for example, while writing about shooting performances, the people who put them on, and Annie's early work, he notes that in the last half of the 19th century, entertainment meant a “live” show.
I've loved DK books ever since locating one of their Star Wars guides by accident and being amazed by the pictures and the amount of detail that went into the work. I've since noticed that most DK books are high-quality, and it's the same here. There are photographs and/or illustrations on nearly every page, definitions of some “difficult” words (since this is a book for younger readers), and boxes to explain terms (like the difference between a gun's calibre and gauge, which was interesting) and or go into more details about some things that were briefly mentioned in the main text but couldn't be explained there without interrupting its flow (Annie's costumes; more info about Sitting Bull, who met Annie; an explanation of “dime novels” that popularized Buffalo Bill's exploits).
Overall, a good read.
Author: Chuck (Charles M.) Wills
Genre: Biography, history, kidlit
Annie Oakley first picked up a gun at the age of eight. She was a natural, and her success as a hunter helped greatly with family finances. By age 22, Annie was performing for money. She went on to travel the world, even snuffing out candle flames and knocking corks from bottles for Queen Victoria, and eventually straight into American hearts as the country's first female superstar. (from the blurb)
I picked this up some time ago, intending to read it after another book in which Annie was a side character. As I finished that and picked up this, I was glad to learn her story from the start because she was so fascinating.
The book starts with Annie at a high point in her life - definitely where she was when I read about her in any detail for the first time - as a member of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. From there it goes back to her Quaker upbringing in Ohio (where she was always proud of being from), through her early days and how she eventually took up showbusiness, to her status as an icon and the legacy she left the U. S.
I like that Wills plainly acknowledges that there are many contradicting versions of some important events in Annie's life - and points them out in their place, and tells the differing stories - and some things we just don't know.
Another thing that I like about this is that in some sections, Wills puts Annie's story into context. So, for example, while writing about shooting performances, the people who put them on, and Annie's early work, he notes that in the last half of the 19th century, entertainment meant a “live” show.
I've loved DK books ever since locating one of their Star Wars guides by accident and being amazed by the pictures and the amount of detail that went into the work. I've since noticed that most DK books are high-quality, and it's the same here. There are photographs and/or illustrations on nearly every page, definitions of some “difficult” words (since this is a book for younger readers), and boxes to explain terms (like the difference between a gun's calibre and gauge, which was interesting) and or go into more details about some things that were briefly mentioned in the main text but couldn't be explained there without interrupting its flow (Annie's costumes; more info about Sitting Bull, who met Annie; an explanation of “dime novels” that popularized Buffalo Bill's exploits).
Overall, a good read.