My Life in the Plymouth Colony

I've long been a fan of books that don't just attempt to teach history, but try to engage kids with the people, time, place, and events happening. There is also something unique about a book that doesn't take the most obvious part of the subject but moves slightly forward or backward to give you a view of what was life like before or after the big event that is more often chosen as a topic for a children's book.

My Life in the Plymouth Colony (My Place in History) is a historical fiction picture book written in a diary format that tracks the life of an eight year old girl in 1633, thirteen years after the colony was settled. As I said previously I like the time jump because it gives the reader an idea of what life was like after the original settlers arrived. This wasn't the time often chronicled in First Thanksgiving stories. This is about what happened when the colony started to grow.

There are nine diary entries, each covering a different topic a New Year, Anne's First Word (her introduction), schooling, farm life, gardening, the Sabbath, a feast, harvest, and breeching. Each entry is about two pages with lots of pictures. There is a glossary in the back that defines the bold vocabulary words that might be new to children. Each section also has a Note from History that gives a little background information on the topic being discussed.

This is clearly not designed to teach the history of the Plymouth colony, but it is a great book to make the experience more real for students by providing practical life details of what life was like for a child living in one of America's earlier colonies. It can be hard to find age appropriate material for younger children that still has something for upper elementary students. I think the information provided here is unique enough that it could cross those boundaries. With support the language and pictures are appropriate for younger students. The material provided addresses gaps not often found in books written for upper elementary students about life for children.

Boston Tea Party

I love history picture books that can educate and entertain at various levels. Boston Tea Partysets the events of the Boston Tea Party to the Nursery Rhyme the House that Jack Built. As each event happens it is added on to the previous events listed, so the reader is reminded of everything that has led up to the events currently happening in the story.

To keep younger readers interested mice are added as commentators and entertainers. They provide additional information not provided in the rhyme and some additional entertainment through their running commentary through out the book.

Despite the nursery rhyme format, this book provides quite a bit of accurate historical information. While the mice are provided for entertainment, they also engage children in learning more about the causes and the effects of the Boston Tea Party. You wouldn't want this to be the only source of information you provide. While most of the information is accurate, there are some exaggerations and distortions like the purpose of the costumes and the fear of the sailors. However, this is really my only main complaint There is a good deal of other information generally left out of children's accounts that can be found here that make this a worthy read.