“Our playground was not measured in acres or city blocks, but in miles and miles,” wrote an Army brat in Arizona Territory of his frontier childhood. “We could do just about everything a little boy dreams of.”
That child would grow up to be remembered as the greatest mayor in New York City history, but Fiorello La Guardia captured the essence of Old West opportunities for play. It was limited only by a child’s imagination.
Despite unlimited play opportunities for youthful imaginations, the frontier remained a dangerous environment for children. The joys and hazards of Old West recreation will be explored with the release in two weeks of Pintsized Pioneers at Play: Homemade Frontier Fun and Danger.
The release date is Tuesday, November 4, which happens to be the birthday not only of our son, Scott, but also of the great American humorist Will Rogers. Harriet, my co-author, and I chose that release date because it is three days after I will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Will Rogers Medallion Awards for my contributions to the literature of the American West. It is always nice to be recognized for your work, but to have my name linked to that of such a great American is indeed high cotton.
Pintsized Pioneers at Play is the sequel to Pintsized Pioneers: Taming the Frontier, One Chore at a Time, the most honored book in my writing career, thanks to my co-author Harriet. Pintsized Pioneers won a Spur Award, an Independent Author Award, a Literary Global Children’s Book Award, a Jean Flynn Honor Award for Best Young Adult Book from the Texas Institute of Letters, and a Will Rogers Medallion Award to be announced November 1 in Tulsa.
Pintsized Pioneers at Play from our Bariso Press imprint is now available for pre-order from your favorite online bookseller.
