Customer Reviews

The First Thanksgiving (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition) (Step Into Reading: A Step 2 Book)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This history of the Pilgrims is very complete, given the reading level of the book. It is written for second to third grade students. The story covers the reasons for leaving England, the journey across the Atlantic, the first horrible winter, the meeting of Samoset and Squanto, the help given by the Indians and the Harvest Feast itself. The artwork is nicely done and adds to the content. Second grade students may find new vocabulary and challenging words to read, while third grade students should find the reading easy. A good asset for the teaching of American history to early elementary students.

This is a good, easy-to-read description of the Pilgrim's journey to America, their hard winter, and the first "Thanksgiving" celebration. However, I think it whitewashes history a little too much. It virtually ignores the tension that existed between the Pilgrims and Indians. There needs to be a happy median struck between telling the truly wonderful aspects of that first Thanksgiving -- how the two peoples were able to come together, if only for a short time, to share the celebration -- while acknowledging there were difficulties in the relationship between Pilgrims amd Indians. This isn't being "politically correct" -- it's just acknowledging the truth to our children that relationships between those two groups of peoples were not usually easy. Life is complex, even for young children -- they will understand and appreciate being told the full story.

ISBN 0679802185 - As the final Thanksgiving book on the shelf this year, The First Thanksgiving was one I was really curious to compare to The Plymouth Thanksgiving,. The similarities are almost as interesting as the details the two books differ on.

A group of people, not allowed to follow their own religious beliefs because they are different from the king's, plan a voyage to America, where they hope they will be able to worship as they choose. They know they will face dangers, and they do, but they survive a harsh winter and, with the help of an Indian named Squanto, they learn more about how to thrive in this new land. When the fall harvest comes, and is plentiful, the pilgrims have a feast and invite the Indians to join them.

Like Weisgard, author Linda Hayward calls the settlers "pilgrims", even though they themselves didn't use that name. While Weisgard's book mentions that some "pilgrims" relocated to Holland before returning to England and going on to America from there, Hayward has them going directly to America. Hayward, unlike Weisgard, admits that the pilgrims knew something about the land and the dangers they might face there. Hayward's version details some of the hardships onboard the Mayflower, while overlooking all the troubles the ship had in finding a suitable place to land. Hayward writes that the first Indians the pilgrims meet ran away, while Weisgard has them exchanging fire; Weisgard notes, accurately but vaguely, that the pilgrims took (stole) things they found, while Hayward just says they "found" wonderful things. Hayward acknowledges the tension between the pilgrims and the Indians, but Weisgard writes as if they were friendly at all times. Both books disregard the historically curious fact that, if they were certain that they were simply coming to dinner, Massasoit and his braves would surely have brought women and children. Neither book is historically accurate, but few books are, on this topic, and both reflect what our children are taught in school. If that bothers you, rather than bypass these books, I'd suggest reading both - and others - and using them to open a conversation, or even pursue a little research with your child.

As in Weisgard's book, Indians are Indians (although Hayward refers to Massasoit as an "Indian king", which is silly) - a note for those concerned with political correctness. For the religious and non-religious alike, although religion is mentioned and "a prayer of thanks" is said, no mention of any particular god is made. The book ends by mentioning Lincoln's proclamation that made Thanksgiving a national holiday, another nice opening for further research. James Watling's illustrations are a little pastel for me, at times, but they compliment the text nicely. This book is a Step 3, Reading On Your Own, book in the Step Into Reading set, for grades 1-3, a good fit because the story is exciting enough to keep them interested through new words.

- AnnaLovesBooks

I browsed and browsed before finding a book I felt was proper to read to my two young children about Thanksgiving; this one was it.

I'm not keen on politically correct mush, and this book is not politically correct mush. While it is somewhat vague regarding the hardships of the Pilgrims and their relations with the American Indians, I don't fault it for that; books for young children (mine are 4 and 5) needn't go into such detail as the distrust between the settlers and the Indians, etc. -- that's for later learning.

Overall, this is a great book and I already have recommended it to many people!

Combining illustrations both realistic and appealing with straightforward historical text, this book takes young readers back in time to THE FIRST THANKSGIVING where Mayflower departed from Plymouth in 1620 England to set sail and begin their new life in the new land - America. The writing is clear, crisp and easy for children to follow and there is a wealth of information to be absorbed - about the pilgrims' long journey across the Atlantic, their encounters with American Indians and their first Thanksgiivng together which becomes the tradition and later was made a national holiday by Abraham Lincoln in 1863. For non-fiction beginning readers to get a quick understanding of the first Thanksgiving, this book offers the perfect amount of context for reading.

What a great book, full of fun facts. Perfect for all readers. Beautiful pictures

I must admit, my kindergartener and I are great fans of the Step Into Reading series of books. Since my daughter had completed the Step 2 books in the Step Into Reading series of books, I decided to go ahead and purchase the Step 3 books. I was a bit hesitant because I noticed there is quite a big leap between the Step 2 and Step 3 books, especially in terms of vocabulary and sentence structure. The vocabulary is more advanced with higher order words, and the sentences are longer. I was also concerned that my daughter might not like the topics which seemed to be more 'academic' with history-based stories. My worries were unfounded. She loves the books and is reading them with very little help from me (and I enjoy listening to the stories!)

These books are excellent for building children's reading skills as well as increasing their confidence in reading. Once you've completed the Step 1 and Step 2 books (I would advise proceeding level by level), the Step 3 books are not as daunting as they might first appear. My only concern with this particular title in the series is the lack of a balanced view regarding the relationship between the Native Americans and Pilgrims, which is portrayed in a completely positive light, and ignores the inherent tensions in their relationship. Well, I understand that this book is for very young readers, but I also feel that history should be taught as it actually happened. This is just my view. I have high regard for this series, but did wish the author had presented a more balanced view here.

This book does a great book of presenting the story of the Pilgrims in a balanced way with text that will be an easy read for children.