About This Book

In May of 1850, a little girl named Faith is about to embark with her family on a westward journey to California in a covered wagon. The trip is expected to take six months, and the family can take only those things essential for their long journey. And since Faith's pet hen, Josefina, is too old to lay eggs and too tough to eat, Faith must convince her father to let her bring Josefina along.

The most treasured items the family carries, however, are the patchwork quilts that Faith's mother and grandmother have made over the years. Each patch in the quilt tells part of a different story, and sewn together, compose the family's history. On the journey across mountains and deserts, Faith occupies her time with making her own quilt. The story her patches tell recounts how Josefina manages to lay an egg just when the family is at their neediest, and how the hen sounds an alarm when robbers try to ambush the wagon. When Faith sleeps in her own bed in her new California home, she sleeps under the completed quilt, full of memories of an arduous journey and the adventures of one heroic hen.

This engaging I Can Read Book also includes a note from the author providing readers with some basic historical background on quilt making, and the dangerous journey west that earned pioneers their name. Bruce Degan's illustrations offer an informative picture of life on a wagon train. Both words and pictures capture a little girl's love for her pet, and what it means for both of them to undergo such a drastic change in their lives.