Customer Reviews

The Lost Colony Of Roanoke

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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Jean Fritz is far and away the best writer of non-fiction history for children, and her newest book is, in my opinion, her best yet (though I have always thought "Can't You Make Them Behave, King George" nothing short of brilliant). Longer than most of her others, and illustrated with beautiful full-color paintings instead of the usual cute line drawings, it is also a more difficult and serious read.

That, of course, is meant in the best possible way: history is hot with kids, but it is more often than not a sanitized sort of history with a happy, feel-good ending tied in with the American Dream. The lost colony did not have a happy ending, and Ms. Fritz refuses to pander to her audience or to make ugly truths pretty. This is a delightful change from most history books for children.

Divided into four chapters, covering the planning, sailing, settling, and historiography of the colony, the last chapter is the real tour de force. I've never seen such a sophisticated demonstration of historiography for children, and I'm very impressed with how successful and interesting it is. Covering all of the major theories about what happened to the lost colony, this chapter gives an excellent account of exactly what historians, anthropologists, and archaeologists really DO: namely, they sort through the tiniest of clues, weeding out scams and forgeries, to develop theories that may never be proved.

This is a great book for all ages. I certainly learned a great deal that I didn't know about the colony: when the subject came up during a discussion with some historians I could more than hold my own based on what I learned in this book (try doing that with other kids history books!). Although enjoyable by anyone with an interest in history, it might be a very good choice for a boy who thinks that history is lame: there's enough sabotage, shipwrecks, and disaster to keep anyone's interest.

This book is very well done, and is based on extensive research (check out the notes section). If your child is interested in American history, or if you are doing a home school unit on colonial America, this book is perfect. Quite frankly, as a parent, I found the information interesting, well-formatted, and better than most other presentations of the Roanoke mystery I can remember.

Very good maps. A voyage-by-voyage explanation of the colony and its purposes, some of the controversies, the reasons why resupply ships failed to materialize, and the final mystery. Some good ideas about where the vanished colonists went are presented. Some of the scams are presented, as well.

It's 2011. I can't help but think a little genetic testing would clear up some of this.

Very good notes section. Bibliography. Excellent index.

One of the best parts of this book: portraits accompany the text.

Jean Fritz wrote "And then what happened, Paul Revere?"; Hudson Talbott illustrated our King Arthur books. Great team for this book.

I visited Roanoke Island last summer, and saw the outdoor play, "The Lost Colony of Roanoke." It was the first I had heard of this lost colony. I was delighted to find this book, which is easily read by my upper elementary readers. Book provides great information in classic Jean Fritz style.

This summer, my elementary-age children and I were beginning a study of early American history. In looking for supplementary reading, one of the topics that I thought would be most interesting to my children (ages 9, 7, & 6) was the Lost Colony of Roanoke. To have a whole settlement of people just disappear into thin air is just the sort of thing to catch their interest. Our history book recommended this book, so I got it.

This book gives a nice overview of why the English wanted to establish a settlement in the New World, how Roanoke was founded, how they gave up and tried again, the troubles they had on the second try, the governor's trip back to England for help, the 3-year delay in his return, and then the missing colony. Finally, a section at the end goes over all of the possible theories and culprits for the colony's disappearance. The tone is very casual, if a bit flippant at times for my tastes. The illustrations are nice.

Overall, I'd recommend this book as a read aloud for those studying the explorers or colonial period. For independent reading, it's at the level of the upper elementary or middle school crowd. Younger children may enjoy it as a read-aloud, though they will probably find some of the analysis at the end a bit over their heads.