The Story of the Pilgrims by Katharine Ross (September 1995)
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Age Recommended: Preschool- 2nd Grade
Summary:
An overview of the Pilgrims first year in American after landing on the Mayflower. With color illustrations and told by the Pilgrim point of view, this book holds broad information about the first encounters with the Native Americans as well as their journey to the first Thanksgiving.
Review:
I gave this book some leniency as it was written in 1995. I was looking through books for my upcoming Thanksgiving lesson. The artwork reminded me so much of Tomie dePaola that I wanted to explore this one a little more in-depth. This story has very brief and a little vague descriptions of the experiences of the Pilgrims through their first year. With the use of "Indians" rather than Native Americans, I felt a little bit of cultural insensitivity. Especially when the author described them as "savage" rather than explaining why the misperception was there. During these moments I did remind myself that this was an older book.
The information was a little to broad for me and sugar coated the experience a little to much. As a preschool teacher myself, I try to talk about treating others who are different than us the same way as we would want to be treated. The Native American and Pilgrim tensions/struggles/mistreatment/and all out war is still something I talk to my little ones about in a more developmentally appropriate way.
All in all, while there was a sense of nostalgia with the illustrations, I would not use this nonfiction text for my lesson.
Read Instead:
The Pilgrim's First Thanksgiving by Ann McGovern
National Geographic Kids: Native American History and Culture
The Very First Americans by Cara Ashrose
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