Drawing from its photo archives and historical treasures, the Colorado History Museum gives us this evocative word-and-picture portrait of childhood in early Colorado. A companion to the museum's long-standing children's exhibit, the book explores the major themes of children's lives-home, family, school, work friends, and play- through images and text that illuminate the experience of childhood through the decades.

Against this backdrop of the faces of unknown youths and the changing world they looked upon stands a more personal story , one that pulls the reader in and makes the past come alive. It is the story of Irma, a Denver girl who died at the age of 12 in 1901. For more than 100 years, Irma's treasured belongings have preserved her personal legacy in a family trunk. This trunk, part of the children's exhibit, serves as a time capsure for families and schoolchildren who desire to explore what it meant to be a child in Colorado so many years ago- and this book captures the essence of the rich stories its historic contents have to tell.