Sarah Morton's Day A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Girl

I first came across Sarah Morton's Day: A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Girl while on a field trip to Plimouth Plantation. The book uses one of the interpreters and the location shots for the illustrations of the story.

While not a new story, the original book was published in 1989, this book retains the ability to introduce children to life in Plimoth Plantation. For students who will be visiting on a field trip or those too far away to ever go, this series of books is a wonderful way to visit through the real life stories being retold by children working as interpreters at the historic site. This story focuses on the real life of Sarah Morton who lives with her Mother and Stepfather. The pictures are taken at Plimoth Plantation using a historical interpreter who works at the site to tell her story.

While the book is often marketed to younger audiences because it is a picture book, the pictures actually do make it valuable for upper elementary students as well. While the story is not complicated it provides valuable information about living conditions, the way children lived, and visual information from the recreations at Plimouth Plantation not always used in other resources for children about this period. One basic issue this book addresses is the stereotypes about the clothing the Pilgrims wore. Plimoth Plantation has done a great deal of work to dispel the myths of the Thanksgiving Pilgrims found on all our decorations. The colored photographs in this book that show children and adults in multi-colored costumes without a buckled hat among them can go even further to help children understand the difference between the myths and facts about the Pilgrims.