Pilgrim Voices: Our First Year in the New World

Grade 4-6?This recounting of the Pilgrims' first 15 months in the New Land is based on the text of Mourt's Relation and William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation. Language has been modernized for contemporary readers. Retaining the primary sources' journal format, the Roops have chosen excerpts that show the major events of the time and give a sense of the struggles and details of day-to-day existence?finding food, building shelter, burying the dead. The narrative tone is understated. Some readers may find the selections featuring the settlers' relationship with the Indians to be overly positive. Interactions are shown to be generally cooperative and peaceful, especially those with Squanto and Samoset. Passages are included, however, that show the Pilgrims' desire to have "the savages" fear them. Overall, this slim volume is successful at creating a human sense of history beyond facts and timelines. Rich, multi-hued paintings have a folkart quality. Although somewhat static, they adequately illustrate the narrative. Marcia Sewall's The Pilgrims of Plimoth (Atheneum, 1986) and Gary Bowen's One Year at Plimoth Plantation 1626 (HarperCollins, 1994) are similar titles for a slightly younger audience.?Heide Piehler, Shorewood Public Library, WI
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