I didn’t get to the library this week, so I had to look on my shelves for a nonfiction book to do. I’m glad I did. This is an oldie—a real oldie—but a goodie. 

The book is Bronco Charlie: Rider of the Pony Express, by Henry V. Larom. I have the paperback, published by Scholastic in 1962.

I adored this book when I was a kid, and I adore it still as an adult. It is a hugely exciting tale about Charlie Miller who was ten years old the year Lincoln became president. Charlie loved horses and he was a brave a boy who loved adventure. He was eleven years old when he started delivering mail for the Pony Express.

As I read the book over this morning, I thought about how dangerous it was for young Charlie to ride forty miles all by himself through the dangers of the of the night and the wilderness. Would I have let my son do such a thing when he was just eleven? I doubt whether I’d let him do it now, even though he is seventeen and six feet tall and very strong.

And even in Charlie’s day, though back then children worked much harder than they do today (maybe because they didn’t have video games and fast food places—if you wanted to eat, you had to work), the Pony Express people thought he was too young for such a big job. But one day he found himself at the right place at the right time and they let him have a trial run. He did so well, they decided to keep him on a regular rider.

I love this book. It makes me wonder if we don’t expect enough of our kids today. I wonder if we don’t give them enough to keep them busy. I wonder if the laws that protect children from being put to work in sweat shops and taken advantage of by greedy adults, haven’t hurt the kids some. No child today could ever ride for the Pony Express. The laws forbid it and even if they didn’t the business owners and managers would never risk putting a child to work at such a dangerous job, for fear of lawsuits.

So when children read Charlie’s exciting tale today, what will they come away with? They can never hope to do the things that Charlie did. But I think it’s worth reading such stories, because I think they make children want to be better and bolder and braver than they are now. And if they can’t ride for the Pony Express when they are eleven, they can still do brave things. They will, all their lives, have opportunities to work hard and to have integrity and determination.

Other books about Charlie and/or the Pony Express:

• Bronco Charlie and the Pony Express, by Marlene Targ Brill
• They’re Off! : The Story of the Pony Express, by Cheryl Harness
• Orphans Preferred: The Twisted Truth and Lasting Legend of the Pony Express, by Christopher Corbett
• Ride Like The Wind: A Tale Of The Pony Express, by Bernie Fuchs

That’s it for me for Nonfiction Monday, but be sure to go over and visit others in the group:

• Brenda at ProseandKahn posted on Extreme Scientists by Donna M. Jackson.
• Lori Calabrese Writes! reviewed The Canada Goose and You by Jennifer S. Burrows.
• Becky at Young Readers posted on Tarra & Bella. The Elephant and Dog Who Became Best Friends, by Carol Buckley.
• Bookends Blog is defending Nonfiction for teens today in response to the YALSA Board’s proposal to make the Best Books for Young Adults list a YA FICTION list only.
• Over at Check It Out, we have a post on Crowmell Dixon’s Sky-Cycle written and illustrated by John Abbott Nez.
• Sarah, at In Need of Chocolate, reviewed Winter’s Tail, by Juliana, Isabella, and Craig Hatkoff.
• At Shelf-employed, there is a review of Who Was First? Discovering the Americas, by Russell Freedman.
• Shirley, at SimplyScience, reviewed The Story of Snow, by Mark Cassino with Jon Nelson.
• Over at Lost Between the Pages you’ll find a review of The Story Behind Toilets, by Elizabeth Raum.
• Anastasia Suen, over at Picture Book of the Day, reviewed Cool Snowboarders, by Michael Sandler.
• At Wrapped in Foil there is a review of Leaf and Tree Guide.
• Over at Charlotte’s Library, you can read about Tutankhamun, by Demi.
• And Abby the Librarian posted on Heroes of the Environment: True Stories of People Who Are Helping to Protect Our Planet, written by Harriet Rohmer and illustrated by Julie McLaughlin.
• Great Kid Books reviews a fascinating look at shipwrecks, and the science, history and archaeology involved in figuring out the stories behind these sunken treasures.
• Wendie, over at Wendie’s Wanderings, took a Look Inside a Log Cabin.

Check back by for more links—I’ll be updating this post throughout the day.

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