From School Library Journal
Grade 2-5?An excellent, evenhanded account of European immigration to North America during Colonial times. In clear language, the Maestros explain this often confusing part of American history. They take readers from the French explorers of the early 1600s, to the arrival of the Pilgrims in 1620, to 1689, when the European population here numbered over 200,000. With beautifully rendered full-color illustrations that are well labeled, this book will leave students with a glimpse of how greedy some settlers were, how religious intolerance played an important role in establishing certain settlements, how hostilities were bound to grow between Europeans and natives, and how the struggle for this continent had only just begun. An "Additional Information" page includes historical tidbits (such as information on the first woman lawyer in the colonies and the founding of Harvard College) and is followed by a fact sheet on "Exploration and Explorers: 1634-1685." This is a fine work that will be well used and create a lot of interest. Other titles to be used in conjunction with it include Sarah Howarth's Colonial People and Colonial Places (both Millbrook, 1994) and Lucille Recht Penner's The Pilgrims at Plymouth (Random, 1996).?Anne Chapman Callaghan, Racine Public Library, WI
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Gr. 3^-5, younger for reading aloud. From the Maestro's American Story series, which began with
The Discovery of the Americas (1991), this volume discusses the colonial era up to 1680. As in the first book, large-scale illustrations in watercolor and colored pencil provide panoramic views of places as well as pictures of people and their activities. The easily digestible text describes the development of the colonies, particularly in New England and New France, and the interaction of colonialists with Native Americans. The book devotes several double-page spreads to the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay colonies; other areas receive more cursory treatment. For instance, Jamestown's only significant mention is in conjuction with the arrival of slaves. That lapse aside, this attractive oversize book will still have plenty of appeal for youngsters, especially given the dearth of well-illustrated American history books on school and public library shelves.
Carolyn Phelan
