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Who Was Annie Oakley?

Part of Who Was?

Illustrated by Larry Day
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Paperback
$6.99 US
5.31"W x 7.63"H x 0.23"D   | 4 oz | 72 per carton
On sale Feb 18, 2002 | 112 Pages | 9780448424972
Age 8-12 years | Grades 3-7
Reading Level: Lexile 870L | Fountas & Pinnell T
You want girl power? Meet Annie Oakley! Born in 1860, she became one of the best-loved and most famous women of her generation. She amazed audiences all over the world with her sharpshooting, horse-riding, action-packed performances. In an age when most women stayed home, she traveled the world and forged a new image for American women.
Stephanie Spinner has written many highly praised children’s books, including Alex the Parrot, Aliens for Breakfast (with Jonathan Etra), It’s a Miracle! A Hanukkah Storybook, and the novels Quiver, Quicksilver, and Damosel. She lives in Sherman, Connecticut. To learn more about Stephanie and her books, please visit stephaniespinner.com. View titles by Stephanie Spinner
Who HQ is your headquarters for history. The Who HQ team is always working to provide simple and clear answers to some of our biggest questions. From Who Was George Washington? to Who Is Michelle Obama?, and What Was the Battle of Gettysburg? to Where Is the Great Barrier Reef?, we strive to give you all the facts. Visit us at WhoHQ.com View titles by Who HQ
Larry Day is the award-winning illustrator of several picture books about American history, including Colonial Voices: Hear them Speak and Voices from the Oregon Trail by Kay Winters and George Did It by Suzanne Tripp Jurmain, He has exhibited watercolors extensively as well. He lives in Oak Park, Illinois. View titles by Larry Day

Who Was

Annie Oakley?

By Stephanie Spinner

Illustrated by Larry Day

Grosset & Dunlap • New York

Text copyright © 2002 by Stephanie Spinner. Illustrations copyright © 2002 by Larry Day. Cover illustration copyright © 2002 by Nancy Harrison. All rights reserved. Published by Grosset & Dunlap, a division of Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers, 345 Hudson St., New York, NY 10014. GROSSET & DUNLAP is a trademark of Penguin Putnam, Inc. Published simultaneously in Canada. Printed in the U.S.A.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available

ISBN: 978-1-101-64006-7                           20  19  18  17  16  15

Who Was
Annie Oakley?

“Aim at a high mark, and you’ll hit it.”

—Annie Oakley

Who was Annie Oakley?

Her real name was Phoebe Ann Moses, and she ignored rules all her life. In an age when ladies did not handle guns, she became a sharp-shooting legend. While most women stayed at home with their children, she traveled the world performing for enormous crowds, living happily in a big canvas tent. She was quiet, even shy, yet a brilliant performer.

During her lifetime, 1860–1926, women were paid far less than men, but at her peak she earned as much as the President of the United States. She was one of the best-known women of her age, and the public loved her, yet she was never anything but modest and down-to-earth.

Her life story inspired books, movies, television shows, and Broadway musicals. Most important, it changed the image of American women forever.

Chapter 1
Darke County

Phoebe Ann Moses was born on August 13, 1860, in Darke County, Ohio. Her birthplace—a rough settler’s cabin built by her father, Jacob—was near the tiny village of Woodland. It was also close enough to the woods for good hunting. Even as a tiny girl, Annie loved to go hunting with her father.

Sadly, Jacob Moses died of pneumonia when Annie was five years old. He left her mother, Susan, with six young children to care for. Susan Moses was a hardworking country nurse. But her wages—$1.25 a week—were not nearly enough to feed and clothe the family. They were very poor.

Annie and her brother and sisters helped out as best they could. They cared for the animals, did the laundry, worked in the garden, baked and cooked and sewed, and looked after the babies. “Somehow we managed to struggle along,” Annie said of those times.

Annie always liked roaming in the woods. They were alive with squirrels, rabbits, chipmunks, turkeys, and pheasants. She began making traps—cornstalks stacked up and tied with string—to catch wild birds. Her father had taught her how to make them, and she was good at it.

Her traps put food on the table every day. “We served them toasted with dressing, fried, broiled, fricasseed, and in potpies, and sometimes they made a nourishing broth,” Annie wrote of the birds she caught.

About

You want girl power? Meet Annie Oakley! Born in 1860, she became one of the best-loved and most famous women of her generation. She amazed audiences all over the world with her sharpshooting, horse-riding, action-packed performances. In an age when most women stayed home, she traveled the world and forged a new image for American women.

Author

Stephanie Spinner has written many highly praised children’s books, including Alex the Parrot, Aliens for Breakfast (with Jonathan Etra), It’s a Miracle! A Hanukkah Storybook, and the novels Quiver, Quicksilver, and Damosel. She lives in Sherman, Connecticut. To learn more about Stephanie and her books, please visit stephaniespinner.com. View titles by Stephanie Spinner
Who HQ is your headquarters for history. The Who HQ team is always working to provide simple and clear answers to some of our biggest questions. From Who Was George Washington? to Who Is Michelle Obama?, and What Was the Battle of Gettysburg? to Where Is the Great Barrier Reef?, we strive to give you all the facts. Visit us at WhoHQ.com View titles by Who HQ
Larry Day is the award-winning illustrator of several picture books about American history, including Colonial Voices: Hear them Speak and Voices from the Oregon Trail by Kay Winters and George Did It by Suzanne Tripp Jurmain, He has exhibited watercolors extensively as well. He lives in Oak Park, Illinois. View titles by Larry Day

Excerpt

Who Was

Annie Oakley?

By Stephanie Spinner

Illustrated by Larry Day

Grosset & Dunlap • New York

Text copyright © 2002 by Stephanie Spinner. Illustrations copyright © 2002 by Larry Day. Cover illustration copyright © 2002 by Nancy Harrison. All rights reserved. Published by Grosset & Dunlap, a division of Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers, 345 Hudson St., New York, NY 10014. GROSSET & DUNLAP is a trademark of Penguin Putnam, Inc. Published simultaneously in Canada. Printed in the U.S.A.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available

ISBN: 978-1-101-64006-7                           20  19  18  17  16  15

Who Was
Annie Oakley?

“Aim at a high mark, and you’ll hit it.”

—Annie Oakley

Who was Annie Oakley?

Her real name was Phoebe Ann Moses, and she ignored rules all her life. In an age when ladies did not handle guns, she became a sharp-shooting legend. While most women stayed at home with their children, she traveled the world performing for enormous crowds, living happily in a big canvas tent. She was quiet, even shy, yet a brilliant performer.

During her lifetime, 1860–1926, women were paid far less than men, but at her peak she earned as much as the President of the United States. She was one of the best-known women of her age, and the public loved her, yet she was never anything but modest and down-to-earth.

Her life story inspired books, movies, television shows, and Broadway musicals. Most important, it changed the image of American women forever.

Chapter 1
Darke County

Phoebe Ann Moses was born on August 13, 1860, in Darke County, Ohio. Her birthplace—a rough settler’s cabin built by her father, Jacob—was near the tiny village of Woodland. It was also close enough to the woods for good hunting. Even as a tiny girl, Annie loved to go hunting with her father.

Sadly, Jacob Moses died of pneumonia when Annie was five years old. He left her mother, Susan, with six young children to care for. Susan Moses was a hardworking country nurse. But her wages—$1.25 a week—were not nearly enough to feed and clothe the family. They were very poor.

Annie and her brother and sisters helped out as best they could. They cared for the animals, did the laundry, worked in the garden, baked and cooked and sewed, and looked after the babies. “Somehow we managed to struggle along,” Annie said of those times.

Annie always liked roaming in the woods. They were alive with squirrels, rabbits, chipmunks, turkeys, and pheasants. She began making traps—cornstalks stacked up and tied with string—to catch wild birds. Her father had taught her how to make them, and she was good at it.

Her traps put food on the table every day. “We served them toasted with dressing, fried, broiled, fricasseed, and in potpies, and sometimes they made a nourishing broth,” Annie wrote of the birds she caught.

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