Customer Reviews

Tattered Sails

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It's the 1600's and Thomas, Edward, and Mary Jane are headed across the ocean from England to the New World. The voyage is harsh, which the author, Verla Kay, describes in sparse rhyming stanzas that reflect the bareness of the pilgrim's living quarters, meals, and clothing.
As the young family arrives in the new world, we rejoice with them. And as they give thanks, we recall the sacrifices of our forefathers who paved the way for all of us today.
Andreasen's artwork is stunning, capturing the feel of the rough ocean voyage in muted watercolors.
This book would be a great addition to a colonial American history lesson.

Verla Kay has a gift for telling history with just enough "perfect" words. The words conjure up beautiful pictures and are translated to paper by illustrator Dan Andreasen. The children will love this book and the painless way it teaches the past. I strongly recommend this book.

Great illustrations show the decision-making of the Pilgrims, and their fears and joys.

Not only is this book a pleasure to read aloud to younger children, but it is useful for older readers as well.

Told in very simple rhyming verse, the book serves as a good language arts project for older readers. Here are two examples we did this year:

-- turn each stanza into a paragraph. I had the children take turns, then we smoothed it out and did illustrations of our own.
-- copy the meter and rhyme scheme to create a similar poem about the child's favorite hobby.

We are planning a trip to early colonial sites next summer, and this book is part of our learning leading up to that trip.