Book Reviews of The Children's Blizzard

I have family that live in South Dakota in the area that hit hard by this blizzard. He mentions Spirit Lake and these boys watching the storm roll over it before it hit them. That is the area where my family homesteaded and still live today, about 12 miles from DeSmet and Laura Ingles.
Even though I grew up 100 yrs after that storm, I knew about it.

I don't think you can find a cemetery in that area of South Dakota that does not have at least one marker that reads Jan 12 1888.

My Mother refused to read this book as felt it would be to painful to hear the stories over again. As she grew up there and knows how hard a Dakota winter can be.

Laskin did a wonderful job of taking a horrable chapter in our history, and telling it with senitivity. He did not go into gory detail about the death of so many and did put in the good side of the story too.

An engrossing narrative. You live the sorrows and victories right along with the protagonists. As well as telling about the blizzard, the author gives us biographies of the various people trapped by the weather.

I read this book a few years ago, and it still sticks with me. Knowing the blizzard was coming,I wanted to warn the kids and the teacher. I rooted for them to live, knowing the outcome would not be affected. I loved learning about the individual lives, and didn't know which ones would live and which ones would die. The way the stories are told make this book the gem it is. Laskin peels away the layers of their stories. The story that could have been a small lost part of South Dakota becomes the story of a generation lost to a rougue storm.

Very interesting book -true-about a blizzard that sweeps the plains during the winter of 1888 and the children that lwft for school on a balmy day to find themselves in a raging storm on the way home....how many died trying to protect their siblings.

I read this while researching my ancestry in Minnesota and North Dakota. A bit heavy on facts, but all in all it was readable.

This is an incredible book. The author takes you on an incredible/horrifying exploration through the blizzard of 1888. His words paint an incredible visual effect. You will be moved to tears.

Excellent history of the disastrous blizzard of 1888 on the Dakota prairies.

This book tells a fascinating account of the Blizzard of 1888. This book details the meteorological aspects of the disaster, and would be of special interest to people in that field.

Interesting and tragic story. Great personal stories. Enjoyed the history of life in that part of the country and the development of the weather reporting system. Enoyable, quick read.

I just could not get into this book. I know it got great reviews, but it was so slow moving and it introduced so many characters that I just wanted the blizzard to come. I should say I am not a fam of non fiction to that may have attributed to my dislike of the book, but the other reviews and the description made me request it.

Drawing on family interviews and memoirs, as well as hundreds of contemporary accounts, here is a meticulous account of the blizzard of January 12, 1888, which killed some 500 settlers in Nebraska, the Dakotas, and Minnesota--many of them children lost on their way home from school.
x-posted to www.bookcrossing.com

A heart wrenching look at the storm known as the "Children's Blizzard". Powerful and moving. Not for the faint of heart. An incredible true story with thought provoking images and the amazing will to survive.

This was a fascinating examination of the factors that made a blizzard in 1888 so horrific. The weather reporting system was rudimentary at best. Residents of the Dakotas and other Plain states were not sufficiently warned, and the loss of life was horrific.

I must confess that the parts about cold fronts and other weather phenomenon were the least interesting parts of the book to me, but I have never been a weather buff. Others might find it fascinating. The part of the book that was compelling to me was the stories of the intrepid pioneers who settled this harsh part of the country. It was a fascinating look at their culture, hopes, and dreams.

The book was worth a read and a must for people interested in extreme weather.

This is such a heartpulling story. This is the account of the day the wind finally did what it always promises to do on those bleak Dakota prairies. This storm was so terrible and so many were trapped and died. I have read this book twice and each time my heart breaks for those that went thru this period. Very good read.

Very interesting look at life on the frontier.

HEART-BRAKING ACCOUNT OF HOW TOUGH THE PONEERS REALLY HAD IT!

Very good book. It has a few slow areas. But it is very well worth reading

Excellent book! This story was very intersting, and really kept me glued to the pages. I finished it in one day!

This book both fascinated and horrified me. It's the true tale of the harrowing blizzard of January 1888, as it swept the northern plains of the US. I wanted to jump into the pages of the book and make the children that ventured out into the storm stay in what shelter they could. My heart broke for the families who lost loved ones. This book will move you.

for what ever reason I couldn't get into this book