Western Expansion (1800-1898)

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At the beginning of 1800, the United States was formally comprised of sixteen states: the original thirteen colonies having been recognized as independent by the Treaty of Paris in 1783 and the states of Vermont, Kentucky and Tennessee having been added to the union by 1796. But American trappers and settlers were busily expanding to other areas, and the country was growing rapidly. Americans did not question their right to colonize vast expanses of North America beyond their country's borders. By the mid-1840s, United States expansionism was expressed in terms of "manifest destiny," and by the end of the nineteenth century, the United States had aquired all of its current territory through a series of wars and peaceful acquisitions:

  • In 1803, the United States made the the Lousiana Purchase, aquiring a huge tract of land (530 million acres!) from Napoleon Bonaparte. This land makes up approximately 22 percent of the current United States and contained parts or all of present-day Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, New Mexico, northern Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, portions of Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado, portions of southern Manitoba, southern Saskatchewan and southern Alberta, and Louisiana. Not all of this land was kept, later being ceded to Great Britain and Spain in exchange for other territory.
  • West Florida was made a U.S. possession in 1810 by President James Madison.
  • The Red River Basin, part of current-day Minnesota and North Dakota, was acquired in the Anglo-American Convention of 1818, a treaty with Great Britain which resolved boundry issues, set the US/Canadian boundary along the 49th parallel, and allowed for joint control of the Oregon Country.
  • East Florida was acquired in the Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819 with Spain. The treaty that gained East Florida also included Spain's surrender of any claims to the Oregon Country.
  • The Oregon Country was jointly controlled by the U.S. and Great Britain until 1846 when the Oregon Treaty divided that territory also at the 49th parallel. This created the Oregon Territory, which includes present-day Oregon, Washington and Idaho, as well as parts of Montana and Wyoming.
  • The Republic of Texas, which had gained its independence from Mexico in 1836, voted that year to be annexed by the United States. However it was nearly 10 years before the annexation of Texas took place. President John Tyler signed a treaty of annexation with Texas in 1844; congress approved it in 1845 and Texas became the 28th state later that year.
  • Mexican leader Antonio López de Santa Anna warned that the annexation of Texas would be "equivalent to a declaration of war against the Mexican Republic." Mexico had never formally acknowledged Texas independence and considered it a matter of national pride to fight for what it considered a rebel province. Thus started the Mexican-American war. The United States defeated Mexico and in the subsequent Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mexico ceded to the United States parts of what are Texas, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Wyoming, and the whole of California, Nevada and Utah. They also recognized the Rio Grande as Texas' Southern border.
  • Less than five years after the Mexican Cession, the United States made the Gadsden Purchase of 1853, aquiring a strip of land along the U.S.-Mexico border, now in New Mexico and Arizona. This territory was later used for the southern transcontinental railroad.
  • In 1867, the United States purchased Alaska from Russia.
  • Hawaii was annexed in 1898 upon the request of a government made up primarily of American and European businessmen who had overthrown the Kingdom of Hawaii.
  • Puerto Rico, Guam, the Philippines, and Cuba were ceded by Spain to the United States after the Spanish-American War in 1898. All four of these areas were under United States Military Government for extended periods. Cuba became an independent nation in 1902. The Philippines became an independent nation in 1946.
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Abraham Lincoln
Initial Biography
by Genevieve Foster
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Historical Non-fiction for 3rd-6th grade
1945 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Across the Wide & Lonesome Prairie
Dear America
by Kristiana Gregory
from Scholastic Inc.
Fictional historical journal for 3rd-6th grade
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Adventures of Lewis and Clark
by Ormonde de Kay, Jr.
from Random House
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Adventures of Lewis and Clark
North Star Books #29
by John Bakeless
from Houghton Mifflin
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Alamo All Stars
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #6
by Nathan Hale
from Amulet Books
for 3rd-8th grade
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$15.99
Big Book of Cowboys
by Holling Clancy Holling
from Grosset & Dunlap
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Buffalo Bill: Boy of the Plains
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Augusta Stevenson
from Bobbs-Merril Co
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in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
By the Shores of Silver Lake
Little House Series #5
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
1940 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$19.99
By the Shores of Silver Lake (Pictorial Cover)
Little House Series #5
by Laura Ingalls Wilder; illustrated by Garth Williams
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
1940 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Caddie Woodlawn
by Carol Ryrie Brink, illustrated by Kate Seredy
Book Club Edition from Macmillan
Realistic Family Fiction for 3rd-7th grade
1936 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Caddie Woodlawn
by Carol Ryrie Brink
from Simon and Schuster
Realistic Family Fiction for 3rd-7th grade
1936 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$19.99
California Gold Days
by Helen Bauer
1961 Printing from California State Department of Education
for 3rd-6th grade
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Cowboy Boots
by Shannon Garst
from Abingdon-Cokesbury Press
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Cowboy Sam and the Indians
by Edna Walker Chandler
from Benefic Press
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Cowboys
Usborne Beginners Level 1
by Catriona Clarke
from Usborne
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Usborne Beginners (Location: SCI-USBREA)
Davy Crockett
by George Edward Stanley
from Sterling Publishing Co.
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Davy Crockett: Young Rifleman
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Aileen Wells Parks
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Drawing America: Sacajawea
Drawing America
by Elaine Raphael & Don Bolognese
from Scholastic Inc.
Biography for 1st-3rd grade
in Lewis & Clark Expedition (1801-1803) (Location: HISA-19L&C)
Farmer Boy
Little House Series #3
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$19.99
Farmer Boy
Little House Series #3
by Laura Ingalls Wilder, illustrated by Helen Sewell
from Harper & Brothers
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
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Farmer Boy (Pictorial Cover)
Little House Series #3
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
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First Book of Cowboys
by Benjamin Webster
from Franklin Watts
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First Book of Pioneers
by Walter Havinghurst
from Franklin Watts
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First Book of the Oregon Trail
by Walter Havighurst
from Franklin Watts
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First Four Years
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
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$18.99
First Four Years (Pictorial Cover)
by Laura Ingalls Wilder; illustrated by Garth Williams
from Harper & Row
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Flaming Arrows
by William O. Steele, Illustrated by Paul Galdone
1st edition from Harcourt
Historical Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Food and Recipes of Westward Expansion
Cooking Throughout American History
by George Erdosh
1st edition from PowerKids Press
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$4.50 (1 in stock)
For Ma and Pa
by Wilma Pitchford Hays, illustrated by Peter Burchard
from Coward McCann
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George Rogers Clark: War in the West
Events of the Revolution
by Susan and John Lee, illustrated by Richard Wahl
from Children's Press
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Going West
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from Dial Books for Young Readers
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Gold Rush
by May McNeer, illustrated by Lynd Ward
from Grosset & Dunlap
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Grandfather's Dance
by Patricia MacLachlan
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
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Great Railroad Race
Dear America
by Kristiana Gregory
from Scholastic Inc.
Fictional historical journal for 3rd-6th grade
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Great Trains of All Time
by Freeman Hubbard; illustrated by Herb Mott
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Here Rolled the Covered Wagons
by Albert Salisbury
from Superior Publishing Company
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Home Crafts (Historic Communities)
by Bobbie Kalman
from Crabtree Publishing
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$2.00 (1 in stock)
How and Why Wonder Book of Winning of the West
by Felix Sutton, illustrated by Leonard Vosburgh
from Charles E. Merrill Company
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How We Crossed the West
by Rosalyn Schanzer
from National Geographic
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I am Sacagawea
Ordinary People Change the World
by Brad Meltzer, illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos
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Indian Summer
by F. N. Monjo
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Indians and Cowboys
by Sanford Tousey
1951 Edition from Rand McNally
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James J. Hill: Young Empire Builder
by Mildred Comfort
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Jane Addams
A Discovery Book
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Jed Smith, Young Western Explorer
by Olive W. Burt
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Jim Bowie: Boy with a Hunting Knife
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Gertrude Hecker Winders
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John Jacob Aster: Boy Trader
by Dorothy S. Anderson, illustrated by Gray Morrow
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Journal of Sean Sullivan
by William Durbin
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Kidnapped Circus
by Richard Wormser, Drawings by Don Bolognese
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Kirsten and the New Girl
American Girls Short Stories
by Janet Shaw
First Edition, First Printing from American Girl
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Kit Carson
by Shannon Garst
from Julian Messner
Biography for 1st-3rd grade
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Kit Carson
A Discovery Book
by Nardi Reeder Campion, illustrated by Shannon Stirnweis
from Garrard Publishing Company
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Land of the Buffalo Bones
Dear America
by Marion Dane Bauer
from Scholastic Inc.
Fictional historical journal for 3rd-6th grade
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Lewis and Clark: Explorers to the West
by Madge Haines, Leslie Morrill, illustrated by William Hutchinson
from Abingdon Press
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Little House - Hardcover Set
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
for 3rd-8th grade
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$144.71
Little House in the Big Woods
Little House Series #1
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
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$18.99
Little House in the Big Woods
by Laura Ingalls Wilder, illustrated by Garth Williams
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Little House in the Big Woods
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Uniform Edition from Harper & Brothers
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$7.00 (1 in stock)
Little House in the Big Woods (Pictorial Cover)
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
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$7.00 (4 in stock)
Little House on the Prairie
Little House Series #2
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
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$19.99
Little Town on the Prairie
Little House Series #7
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
1942 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$19.99
Little Town on the Prairie (Pictorial Cover)
Little House Series #7
by Laura Ingalls Wilder; illustrated by Garth Williams
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
1942 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Long Winter
Little House Series #6
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
1941 Newbery Honor Book
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$21.99
Long Winter
by Laura Ingalls Wilder, illustrated by Garth Williams
from Harper & Row
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Long Winter (Pictorial Cover)
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from Harper & Row
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Make Way for Sam Houston
by Jean Fritz; illustrated by Elise Primavera
First Edition from G.P. Putnam's Sons
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Mark Twain and the Queens of the Mississippi
by Cheryl Harness
from Simon and Schuster
Biography for 2nd-5th grade
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
Mustang, Wild Spirit of the West (pictorial hardcover)
by Marguerite Henry; illustrated by Robert Lougheed
from Rand McNally
for 3rd-6th grade
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My Face to the Wind
Dear America
by Jim Murphy
from Scholastic Inc.
Fictional historical journal for 3rd-6th grade
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Old Town in the Green Groves
by Cynthia Rylant
from HarperCollins
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$9.99
On the Banks of Plum Creek
Little House Series #4
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
1938 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$18.99
On to Oregon!
by Honore Morrow
1946 Edition from William Morrow & Company
for 3rd-7th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Paul Bunyan and His Great Blue Ox
by Wallace Wadsworth, illustrated by Will Crawford
from George H. Doran Company
for 3rd-6th grade
Paul Bunyan and His Great Blue Ox
by Wallace Wadsworth, illustrated by Enrico Arno
from Doubleday & Company
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Perilous Journey of the Donner Party
from Clarion Books
for 3rd-6th grade
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Picture Book of Davy Crockett
by David Adler
from Holiday House
Picture Book Biography for 2nd-4th grade
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Pioneering on the Plains
Frontiers of America
by Edith McCall, illustrated by Carol Rogers
from Children's Press
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
Pony Express
by Steven Kroll, illustrated by Dan Andreasen
from Scholastic Press
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
Pony Express
from Franklin Watts
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Prairie Lotus
by Linda Sue Park
from Clarion Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$16.99
Real Book About the Wild West
by Adolph Regli, illustrated by Ted Shearer
1st edition from Garden City Books
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Roy Rogers and the Outlaws of Sundown Valley
by Snowden Miller, illustrated by John Ushler
from Whitman Publishing Company
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Rush for Gold
by Frank L. Beals, illustrated by Jack Merryweather
from California State Department of Education
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$30.00 (1 in stock)
Sam Houston: Boy Chieftain
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Augusta Stevenson
from Bobbs-Merril Co
for 3rd-6th grade
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Sancho the Homesick Steer
by Helen Rushmore, illustrated by Jack Hearne
from Garrard Publishing Company
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Santa Fe Trail
by David Lavender
from Holiday House
for 3rd-6th grade
in Western Expansion (1800-1898) (Location: HISA-19WES)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Seeds of Hope
Dear America
by Kristiana Gregory
from Scholastic Inc.
Fictional historical journal for 3rd-6th grade
in Dear America Books (Location: SER-DEAR)
Sioux Indians
Sonia Bleeker's Tribes of the Americas
by Sonia Bleeker, illustrated by Kisa Sasaki
from William Morrow & Company
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Sitting Bull: Dakota Boy
by Augusta Stevenson
from Bobbs-Merril Co
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Song of Paul Bunyan and Tony Beaver
by Ennis Rees
from Pantheon Books
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
Story of Louisa May Alcott
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #35
by Joan Howard, illustrated by Flora Smith
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 3rd-8th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Stephen Foster
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #31
by Esther M. Douty, illustrated by Jo Polseno
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 3rd-8th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Survival in the Storm
Dear America
by Katelan Janke
from Scholastic Inc.
Fictional historical journal for 3rd-6th grade
in Dear America Books (Location: SER-DEAR)
Sweetwater Run
by Andrew Glass
from Doubleday Book For Young Readers
for 2nd-6th grade
in Pony Express (1860-1861) (Location: HISA-19PEX)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
The Alamo
by Leonard Everett Fisher
from Holiday House
for 3rd-8th grade
in Western Expansion (1800-1898) (Location: HISA-19WES)
These Happy Golden Years
Little House Series #8
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
1944 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$21.99
These Happy Golden Years
Little House Series #8
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Library edition from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
1944 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
They Were Strong and Good
by Robert Lawson
from Viking Press
for 1st-3rd grade
1941 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$20.99 $11.00 (1 in stock)
They're Off!
by Cheryl Harness
from Simon and Schuster
Historical Non-Fiction for 2nd-5th grade
in Pony Express (1860-1861) (Location: HISA-19PEX)
Three Names
by Patricia MacLachlan, illustrated by Alexander Pertzoff
from HarperCollins
for 2nd-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
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