Mayflower 1620: A New Look at a Pilgrim Voyage - Tapa dura

Plimoth Plantation and the National Geographic Society come together to tell the true story behind the legendary voyage of the Mayflower. A meticulously researched work, Mayflower 1620 offers children a compelling, fresh account of this much-told story.

Vibrant photography of a rare reenactment using the Mayflower II leads readers imaginatively into the narrative. The vivid and informative text explores the story behind the exhibits at the living-history museum in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Primary sources record what the voyagers wore, what they ate, and telling details of their journey. First-person accounts reveal the hopes and dreams they carried. Readers share in the long hours at sea, and in the dangers faced after landfall. Extensive end notes, a map, a detailed chronology, and a bibliography round out the full story of the Mayflower.

Readers experience a new look at this seminal historical event through the eyes of those who now regularly inhabit the world of the pilgrims—the actors who interpret the Pilgrim Voyage. This eye-opening book teaches children the value of closely reexamining everything we think we know.

Kindergarten-Grade 4-This account of the voyage of the Mayflower is illustrated with photographs taken on a June, 2001, cruise of the Mayflower II. The illustrations are the real draw here-large, vivid, and expertly composed. The historical context of the original voyage is briefly sketched, as is the journey itself. Short chapters chronicle the provisioning of a ship from that time and describe navigation techniques. The readable text gives a good idea of the many unpleasant aspects of shipboard life in 1620, but doesn't present information that isn't available in many other books. The authors state that the settlers had "little or no respect" for Native Americans. Regarding the seed corn and other items that the exploratory parties took from the Native villages, the comment is that "few- considered this stealing." No mention is made of William Bradford's journal note that the goods would be paid for when the owners could be identified, and that this was done the following spring. Susan Whitehurst's lavishly illustrated The Mayflower (PowerKids, 2003) is briefer. Kate Waters's On the Mayflower: Voyage of the Ship's Apprentice and a Passenger Girl (Scholastic, 1996) is also illustrated with color photographs of interpreters aboard the Mayflower II, but fictionalizes events. Ann McGovern's -If You Sailed on the Mayflower in 1620 (Scholastic, 1991) looks drab by comparison, but contains more information. Children will enjoy looking at this book, and it is a reasonable choice to supplement classroom units.
Elaine Fort Weischedel, Millbury Public Library, MA
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