Today, read some books to give your children a proper perspective about the first Thanksgiving. Choose a great book about life as a Pilgrim and read a little each day as a family. Talk about what life would be like if you lived in the 1620’s.
A few years ago I shared the following with some of my friends. Each year I look for a new book about the Pilgrims & Mayflower to read aloud. Last year we read Landing of the Pilgrims, a Landmark book.
When I looked through our bookshelf I found an updated version of Mourt’s Relations, called Homes in the Wilderness: A Pilgrim’s Journal of Plymouth Plantation in 1620, edited by Margaret Wise Brown. We know Brown from our favorite bedtime story – Goodnight Moon. Although this is a modern translation of the journal kept by Governor William Bradford and others of the Mayflower company, it still retains much of the sentence structure and writing styles of the authors.
Homes in the Wilderness describes the landing of the Pilgrims on Cape Cod, their search for a homesite, the first meetings with Indians, and the final building of the settlement at Plymouth.
A few of our favorites when our children were young (& they still enjoy reading them) are below.
These are worth buying. We read them every year. (If this blog encourages you, I’d appreciate clicking on any image below to buy the books. It helps pay for website expenses)
Samuel Eaton’s Day: A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Boy
Sarah Morton’s Day: A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Girl
Tapenum’s Day: A Wampanoag Indian Boy in Pilgrim Times
On The Mayflower: Voyage of the Ship’s Apprentice & a Passenger Girl
Squanto, Friend of the Pilgrims (by Bulla)
Our family has enjoyed these books for the past 10 years. Ever since our oldest was in Kindergarten, we have read them each year. The photographs remind us of what life was really like in those first few years of the Plymouth colony.
You might enjoy reading a review of these books right here:
My kids (4 and 6) love this book, and want it read to them again and again. It follows a day in the life of young Sarah Morton, a historical character who was a child in early Plymouth Colony. It shows how the people lived then and how their world view differed from ours, yet it entertains at the same time. It can serve as a springboard for discussions on many different topics — history, responsibility, religion, family, grief, hard work, and no doubt others.
Although you can find them at the library, I highly recommend starting a library of Thanksgiving books for your kids.
Question: What are your kids favorite Thanksgiving books? You can leave a comment by clicking here.
