The Mayflower and the Pilgrims’ New World is a great book for those who want to know the background of the Plymouth settlement and what happened after the “First Thanksgiving.” How the Pilgrims came to America and the difficulties they faced continued long after their initial landing in New England and, unlike others who tried to settle in the same area, they were able to keep the peace most of the first fifty years after their arrival. Philbrick fills in the efforts both Native Americans and the Pilgrims went to in order to keep the peace and allow the Plymouth settlement to survive. He also examines how that very peace was broken by subsequent generations and those who came later.
I really enjoyed this book. It is a good nonfiction book with lots of interesting details and information any student could use, but I doubt many students would spend a lot of time reading it unless they were required to read it.
Review by Celia Powell, Granite School District Instructional Technology Department
Rating: 5 Stars
Interest Level: Grades 7-12
The Mayflower and the Pilgrims’ New World
Written by Nathaniel Philbrick (abridged and adapted for young readers from his bestselling book Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War)
Putnam Juvenile / Penguin Group
352 p.
ISBN: 9780142414583
Release Date: October 15, 2009 (paperback reprint)
After visiting Plymouth colony in Massachusetts, I think this would be a very interesting read. It may not be appropriate for most elementary studentsc but we have quite a few who might like to read something on a higher level (depnding on whether it is appropriate at all). Many of the students at Crestview travel quite a bit and might have been in Plymouth themselves to peak their interest.