Do you sometimes wonder what it was like to live in another time in history?

Maybe you wish you had been a sheriff in the Wild West, keeping peace in town and bringing outlaws to justice. Or you think you would have liked to be a knight on a horse or a pirate on a ship.

Or maybe you would have been a scout. Imagine finding new lands and trails, helping pioneers, and learning about Native Americans. If this sounds like a dream job to you, then read “The Trailblazing Life of Daniel Boone and How Early Americans Took to the Road” written and illustrated by Cheryl Harness.

In the early 1700s, Daniel Boone’s grandfather brought his family to America because of religious persecution. The Boones settled in Philadelphia, but they didn’t stay long.

Grandpa Boone, who obviously passed his restlessness on to his grandson, wanted to see what else the new country had to offer. The family packed up and moved twice before Daniel was born in 1734.

As a young boy, Daniel Boone had a reputation for being a fighter and a great marksman with his gun (even though he didn’t get his first gun until he was 12 or 13 years old). People said he could shoot a tick off a bear’s nose at 100 yards. Daniel could track game through the woods like nobody else could, and he was very at ease in the woods.

He loved to hunt and trap, partially because it was the best way to care for his family (he married Rebecca Bryan when he was 21 and she, 17) and partially because it brought him money from the pelts of the animals he trapped.

But exploring wasn’t all that Daniel Boone did. He established settlements and worked to clear the Wilderness Road through Kentucky. He had many skirmishes with Native Americans over land rights and use. He was a tavern-keeper, businessman and fighter in several battles.

The roads Daniel walked were probably mostly just rough paths, but in the back of this book, you’ll learn more about travel in America and how it has changed since Boone put one moccasin in front of the other.

Sometimes, all it takes to get a child interested in a book is to prove that there’s a personal story behind the reason for the book. Author Cheryl Harness does a nice job with this.

“The Trailblazing Life of Daniel Boone” is filled with anecdotes about Boone, his childhood, and the historical events that occurred during his lifetime. There’s a lot of information here, which will give kids plenty to learn without feeling like they’re learning. Add illustrations by the author, and you’ve got a book that will satisfy the interest of history-minded kids and will nudge the curiosity of pretend-scouts who’ll want to know more about this American icon.

Pick up a copy of this book (or any of the other ones in this series). For a 9- to 14-year-old reader, “The Trailblazing Life of Daniel Boone” is a worthy book to scout out.