Customer Reviews

Thanksgiving on Plymouth Plantation (Time-Traveling Twins)

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This is a nicely illustrated history lesson in simple story format. Two kids time-travel with their grandmother to Plymouth Plantation and while there, see and experience how it felt at the time. Pages are chock full of extra tidbits.

THANKSGIVING ON PLYMOUTH PLANTATION is the third in the series of "time traveling twins" books by Diane Stanley. Liz and Lenny love visiting their grandmother. Their grandmother is a very special lady with a very special hat. When she puts it on, she can travel backwards in time and be a part of history. When Liz and Lenny come to visit for Thanksgiving, they decide to travel back in time to 1621 to the "first" Thanksgiving at Plymouth, Massachusetts. They meet one of their ancestors who traveled to America aboard the Mayflower and clear up many of the misconceptions they had about the "first" Thanksgiving (including that it wasn't the first and it really wasn't a Thanksgiving).

The story is easy to follow and in addition to the main "story" there is a subplot that's followed by reading the speech-bubbles of the characters. The book is chock-full of all kinds of information about those first church planters who lived at Plymouth. Children will be amazed at all of the information, some of which they will find particularly surprising. For instance, everyone, including children drank beer at Plymouth because it was healthier than the water. Holly Berry's illustrations are a welcome accompaniment to the playful story and text. Lastly, the beginning and the end of the book has illustrations of a Thanksgiving feast from "then" (1621) and "now". By the time kids finish reading this text, they will be wanting to clean the turkey with pudding, sallet herbs, and pompion pie off of their trenchers (translated: turkey with stuffing, vegetables, and pumpkin pie off their plates).