Twenty rhyming quatrains in trochaic dimeter tell of family man Jasper's leaving his farm to seek his fortune during the Gold Rush of 1849. It's a hard and dangerous pilgrimage to the West, fighting the elements as well as the unfriendly fauna. Then there's the backbreaking work of prospecting combined with dealing with the numerous and equally frustrated prospectors. Discouraged, Jasper packs up and returns to his family and it's, "Back to farmhouse,/ Chickens, cow,/Barnyard, fences,/Pitchfork, plow." While children will enjoy the rhythm of this laconic tale, supplemental narrative may be necessary to fill in the period details and define mining terminology such as "sluicing," "vein," and "claim," not to mention the arcane "long tom" (a gold-washing trough). Nonetheless, Kay's personalized approach to history is a hoot. Schindler's colored-pencil drawings on brown, flecked paper are detailed, visually fleshing out the mining process and are often humorous, showing bumper-to-bumper covered wagons heading to California, circling vultures on the hot trail, erect grizzlies scaring miners way up into trees, and, finally, Jasper gratefully kissing his cow upon his humble return to the farm. This is a terrific read-aloud that painlessly introduces children to the unique American folly that played a significant role in expansionism. John Sigwald, Unger Memorial Library, Plainview, TX Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.