Going West

Award-winning author Jean Van Leeuwen tells the moving story of a pioneer family during the Westward Expansion

One day in early spring they packed everything they had into our wagon, and set out to find a new home. Sleeping under the stars, weathering terrible storms, and fording swollen rivers, Hannah and her family made the journey of a lifetime.


An American Bookseller Pick of the Lists.

"Like pages torn from a frontier journal, stirring sketches and lyrical text form a moving tribute to the brave families to whom the book is dedicated."—Publishers Weekly"Like pages torn from a frontier journal, stirring sketches and lyrical text form a moving tribute to the brave families to whom the book is dedicated."—Publishers Weekly

"The simple vocabulary and evocative pictures provide a quiet beginning for general discussions about the past."—School Library Journal 

Jean Van Leeuwen (jeanvanleeuwen.com) is the author of more than fifty children's books, including picture books, Easy-to-Read books, and middle-grade fiction. Ms. Van Leeuwen now lives in another small town north of New York City with her husband, Bruce Gavril. She has two grown children, David and Elizabeth, and a young grandchild, who will surely inspire more stories.