By the Great Horn Spoon!

I ad this book as a child, and LOVED it. Reading it to our son, we were able to get a bit of geography, history and a bit about steam boats into the discussion...and that was just the first chapter! So if you are a home schooler, this MIGHT qualify as one of the living books. Great plot and adventure, with lots of humor and a good moral.....hard work, smart thinking, and a sense of humor will go a long way towards making your dreams come true!

I love this book! I ordered this copy to replace a tattered old copy. This is such a fun story about a boy and his butler going on an adventure to the California Gold Rush. I read it aloud when my older kids were younger. I tried to read it to my youngest daughter but she just took the book to finish it herself.

I really love the characters in this book especially Praiseworthy, the butler. He's such a perfectly drawn character and I like to see how he responds to events. As a teacher, I think this book is worthy of any book shelf. Also, it will make a great read aloud to accompany a unit on the gold rush. It does a great, but humorous job, of showing how a gold rush can affect individuals or a community.

Basically, it's a fun story that my kids and I love to read.

I am a 4th/5th grade teacher. I used this book as a core novel in class and it worked extremely well.
Both my students and I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The hilarious antics of Jack and Praiseworthy taught my students a great deal about the gold rush and about US and world geography while they were being entertained by the story. I was able to use the book as the basis for a host of writing and other activities.
The richness of the language, especially the similies, made the book a great model for teaching writing.
The book held the interest both of boys and girls alike. If you are a child looking for a good book to read, check out this one. If you are a parent or teacher looking for a book that is both high in quality and interesting to children, you will be glad to selected this book.

It's 1849. Gold has been discovered in California. Twelve-year-old Jack, at home in Boston, needs money to save the family home. His solution? Stowaway on a ship bound for the goldfields. Find some gold. Return home. Easy? Not on your life! Lucky for Jack, his butler (with the endearing name of Praiseworthy) stows away also. Together these two gold seekers get in and out of numerous adventures and meet colorful characters with names like Pitch-pine Billy and Mountain Ox as they wander around the gold fields trying to "strike it rich".

I read this wonderful, tongue-in-cheek historical novel aloud to the students in my class when we studied the California Gold Rush. They always wanted "one more chapter" and joined in with Jack's adventures wholeheartedly. We all were surprised at the twist at the end of the book! Highly recommended

I love this awesome and adventurous book! It taught me to be more patient in life and to find the good in everything. In the beginning, they're looking for gold in the gold rush. They waiting so long, but finally they strike it rich! A little later, they loose all their gold. But thanks to the creativity in this book, they gain it all back. By the Great Horn Spoon was a wonderful book for me and my friends. It has so much adventure that you don't know what's coming next. I like the characters names like Pitch Pine Billy and Mr. Azariah Jones. I like all of them and all the adventure. I hope you read this book because of this review. I love this book and I hope you do too!

Purchased this book at the start of the school year and now my son and his class are reading it. He is supposed to read several chapters during Thanksgiving break and my wife tells me the book is missing chapters. I've never seen such a thing happen and sure enough it goes from page 84 to 117. Chapter 7 is the last full chapter and 12 is the next full chapter. Check your books to make sure they are complete, my son has already marked notes in his and I am outside the return window.

First rate entertainment and historical delight for kids of all ages. Fleischman weaves a tight, delightful tale of two unlikely gold miners/adventurers who neatly solve dilemmas and grow as characters, all while giving a detailed snapshot of life during the California gold rush. Not a wasted word in this book, kids will nevertheless enjoy a frolicking journey with a feel good ending despite the perils and setbacks the heroes encounter. Highly recommend.

About two stowaways called Jack and his butler, Praiseworthy who are on a ship named Lady Wilma to get to California in the hope of getting rich and not lose their family home in Boston. Exciting adventure of varmints, miners, sailors, and the shiny gold. Are they able to save their home? Or will they be stuck in California forever and not make it? An exciting adventure is waiting at your own hands.
A simple story to learn about the past and the Gold Rush days. Adventurous and exciting, a well-blended mix fit for this fantastic story.

Wonderful, historical book, loved the adventures shared by the boy and his butler's trip to get to the California Gold Rush, and all they experienced there, once they arrived. I recommend it both for kids and grown-ups too! [As an aside, my daughter, a 5th grade teacher, assigned this book for her students, and every one of them loved it too, including my daughter!]

This was a fabulous book. It had plenty of laughs. There was a few rough spots, that is why it has 4 stars rather than five. It was so cool how each story in each chapter all lead to the end, that was also fabulous. I have to be honest, the end made me not want to look(I hate the mushy stuff, that's just me). The book was overall great and seemed to have a lot of effort to write. Just imagine writing a story like this one! Well, This book would be a great read-aloud for a fourth grade classroom. Although, with an interest level of 4th grade, it makes it inappropriate to do book projects on. But it is still fun to read and i really recommend reading this, it'll make you laugh! 4 stars for By the Great Horn Spoon!