Three Young Pilgrims -- The story of the Pilgrims and Thanksgiving, as experienced by the Allerton family. Nicely illustrated with beautifully detailed paintings!
Pilgrim Voices: Our First Year in the New World -- Taken from actual journals of the Pilgrims, this book is a dramatic account of the Pilgrims' landing in America, the Indians they met, the hardships faced that first year, and the joyous Thanksgiving celebration. Plenty of nice illustrations that should keep the interest of even the younger set.
Samuel
Eaton's Day
Sarah
Morton's Day
Both of these books are about real Pilgrim children. The books were photographed at Plimouth Plantation, which is a living history museum that re-enacts life as it was in 1627. These books are beautifully photographed and carefully researched. I would vote them as must-have books for every family!
They especially make this period of history come alive for young children, but older children enjoy them as well.
Pocahontas by Ingri and Edgar Parin d/Aulaire -- A wonderful opportunity for you to teach your children the true story, rather than the Disney mutated version.
Squanto, Friend of the Pilgrims -- This is the amazing story of how Squanto came to journey to England and then return to help the Pilgrims in the New World.
When I first learned of Squanto's story, I couldn't help but wonder at the providence of God in preparing Squanto to be able to be a true friend to the Pilgrims.
The
Witch of Blackbird Pond -- We avoided this book for
years, based on the title alone. Who wants to read a story about a
witch? However, this book, the 1959 Newberry Award winner, is the
thought-provoking look into Puritan society and the attitudes that
led up to the witch trials. It's about an orphan girl who has a
difficult time fitting in with her Puritan relatives. There is not
a witch in the story, only a suspected witch, a Quaker woman who
is befriended by the orphan girl.
I'd recommend this book for older children. I know that I look forward to discussing it with my oldest.
The
Little Thanksgiving Stained Glass Coloring Book --
We're becoming great fans of the Dover Little Activity Books, at
least the ones we've seen so far. Whenever I'm planning a unit
study or preparing for a holiday celebration, I'm on the lookout
for clever but easy crafts and decorating ideas that even the
younger children can do themselves. We've used other stained glass
books in the past, but this is the first time that I realized that
there is one available for Thanksgiving. The pictures can be
removed from the book, colored with markers, colored pencils,
crayons or paints, and then taped to a window as a decoration.
Draw Write Now Book Three -- We used this last year for step-by-step drawing instruction for the colored pencil drawings that each child did for our Thanksgiving Notebook. They illustrated the entire Thanksgiving story. This is a fun resource and one we will use year after year.
