Old Crump

“… a sol­id intro­duc­tion to the his­toric jour­ney to the West. [The illus­tra­tor, John Winch] plays up the dra­ma of nature’s per­ils, favor­ing a preda­tor’s-eye view and thus sub­tly empha­siz­ing the desert’s dan­gers. The illus­tra­tions set in the artist’s char­ac­ter­is­tic folk-art-style fig­ure against pho­tographs of the Valley’s lunar rocks and sands.” (Pub­lish­ers Week­ly)

“Winch’s illus­tra­tions are an inter­est­ing blend of pho­tographs and orig­i­nal art; paint­ings. … A hawk is pic­tured on almost every spread, watch­ing the trav­el­ers. … the book will make an inter­est­ing addi­tion to oth­er works about the West­ward move­ment.” (School Library Jour­nal)

“Lawlor draws on a true sto­ry … a group of forty-nin­ers, trav­el­ing in 1850, takes a short­cut from Utah to Cal­i­for­nia and winds up wan­der­ing through Death Val­ley. … Old Crump … car­ries the fam­i­ly across the desert to safe­ty. … Lawlor’s text [depicts] the emo­tions of the trav­el­ers, the fear of being lost, and the relief of find­ing a new home.” (Book­list)