Homemade Frontier Fun and Danger written by Preston Lewis and Harriet
Kocher Lewis
Date Published: 11-04-2025
Publisher: Bariso Press
the forgotten world of how kids lived, laughed—and sometimes
limped—through their childhood years in the Old West.
While their parents settled the land, these pintsized pioneers explored it,
creating their own adventures with homemade toys, daring games, wild animal
encounters, and risky escapades. This engaging sequel to the award-winning
Pintsized Pioneers: Taming the Frontier, One Chore at a Time shines a
spotlight on the joys and perils of play in a land still being tamed.
From exploring the prairie and wrangling critters to celebrating frontier
holidays and watching traveling circuses, this book reveals how children
carved out fun and entertainment in a rough-and-tumble world. Learn how
railroads and mail-order catalogs brought new toys, how schools and churches
doubled as social hubs, and how a simple game could end in laughter—or
injury.
Written for young adults but fascinating for readers of all ages, Pintsized
Pioneers at Play is packed with history, heart, and a hint of danger. Written
at a tenth-grade reading level perfect for curious minds, Pintsized Pioneers
at Play includes a glossary of related terms.
Perfect for fans of Western history, educators, homeschoolers, and lovers of
untold American stories!
About the Author
Preston Lewis is the award-winning author of more than sixty western,
historical, juvenile, and nonfiction works. In 2021 he was inducted into the
Texas Institute of Letters for his literary achievements. The Will Rogers
Medallion Awards named him the 2025 recipient of the organization’s
Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to the literature of the
American West.
Western Writers of America (WWA) has honored Lewis with three Spur Awards, one
for best article, a second for best western novel and a third one for YA
nonfiction in 2025. He has received eleven Will Rogers Medallion Awards (seven
gold, two silver and two bronze) for written western humor, short stories, YA
nonfiction, short nonfiction, and traditional Western novel.
Harriet Kocher Lewis is a retired physical therapist and PT educator. As an
assistant clinical professor of physical therapy at Angelo State University,
she taught documentation and scientific writing among other topics as the
department’s coordinator of clinical education.
After retirement she became the publisher of Bariso Press and in that capacity
an award-winning author and editor. Books she has edited have earned a Spur
Award, Will Rogers Gold and Bronze Medallions for YA nonfiction and western
humor, a Literary Global Book Award for cookbooks, and an Independent Author
Award for western nonfiction. Other books she has edited have been finalists
for Spur Awards in juvenile nonfiction and for Independent Author Awards for
both memoirs and humor.
Kocher Lewis is co-author with her husband of the Spur Award-winning Pintsized
Pioneers: Taming the Frontier, One Chore at a Time and three books on
artificial Intelligence, all published by Bariso Press. They live in San
Angelo, Texas.
Contact Links
Twitter: @prestonlewisaut
Instagram: @barisopress
https://mybook.to/PinsizedPioneersatPlay
