Yeah, I know – it’s the day after Thanksgiving. Which means you’re probably anxious to get to a sale (or maybe you’re standing in a line and reading this) or you’re getting ready to retrieve your holiday decorations from the rafter, or staring in mute despair at the stack of dishes from last evening’s feast…

And I want to try to talk about books?! Am I crazy? Nah… I’ll even keep this blog post short, but I promise to post a new article every Friday…so here goes. One more book that you might want to add to your children’s history book shelf – for Thanksgiving next year or their history studies.

The Book: The Pilgrims at Plymouth

Title: The Pilgrims at Plymouth

Author: Lucille Recht Penner

Illustrator: S.D. Schindler

Publication Date: 1996, 2002

ISBN: 0-375-82198-8

Link To Amazon: The Pilgrims at Plymouth

Why I Like This Book

Let’s start with what I don’t like about this book: the cover. It’s deceiving because this is a very pop-culture image of the Pilgrims and the Thanksgiving Feast; however, the book text and interior illustrations are different than the cover.

Okay, with that caveat aside, here’s what I really like…

The text is easy to read, but it’s more detailed than the other books we’ve discussed this month. Recommended by the publishers for Second Grade and up, this book tells the story of the Pilgrims from their embarkation to the Harvest Feast. It’s great for those “in-between” ages when kids wants more than just a story picture book, but aren’t really ready for William Bradford’s account and other primary sources. There are little “fun-facts” tucked in as captions!

The illustrations. They’re colorful and fun, not cartoony but appealing to kids. Since these illustrations aren’t on the front cover, check them out in the image to the right.

The Historical Lessons In The Book

It’s a basic book, covering the historical adventures of the Pilgrims and their Native America acquaintances. A wonderful bookshelf addition because of its attention to historic detail combined with kid-friendly pictures and facts.

Need we really say more? (I know…you want to get on with the Black Friday adventures.)

Read, Read, Read…Anytime Of Year

I think it’s a shame that we only read Christmas books in December. Pilgrim books in November. Especially when there’s a lot of historical value in the stories/accounts.

Don’t be afraid to pull out your “Thanksgiving” books in April or July. After-all, we should be thankful every single day!

And the Pilgrims and Wampanoag didn’t just magically show up in Plymouth for a Harvest Feast. Nope, they were there year round, working to survive. So why not pull out a “Thanksgiving” book at some other time of year. What were the Pilgrims doing in April 1621? When did the Mayflower really return to England? When did the Wampanoag start planting their crops? (See there’s more to this history than a feast!)

Your Historian,

Miss Sarah

P.S. So what are you doing today? Thanks for reading this blog post!