Molly's Pilgrim (Hardcover)

by Barbara Cohen (Author), Daniel Mark Duffy (Illustrator) "I didn't like the school in Winter Hill..." (more)
Key Phrases: Miss Stickley

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
A Russian immigrant girl adjusts to the American celebrations of Thanksgiving and birthdays, respectively. Ages 5-8; 6-10.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
"A thought-provoking Thanksgiving read-aloud." -- ALA Booklist

"This strong and important story easily ranks as one of the best choices for this and every Thanksgiving." -- Sun Chronicle

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; Revised edition (October 14, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688162797
• ISBN-13: 978-0688162795
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 8.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #396,805 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The wonderful book that brought me down low, June 14, 2004

By	E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Molly's Pilgrim (Paperback)

Ladies and gentlemen, I come before you today with a confession. I, knowingly and without malice, am a wimp. I am a wimp of the finest pedigree, forged in the wimpy steps of my wimpy forebears. This loathsome quality only cares to show itself in the oddest of moments. Normally, I feel relatively safe reading children's books and, especially, picture books. Certainly the protagonists in these tales have their trials and tribulations to endure, but they usually do so with relative good faith and their enemies are by and large trampled soundly at the end of their tales. Usually. Then there are books like, "Molly's Pilgrim". Ladies and gentlemen, if your child can read through this book in its entirety without feeling overwhelmed by a sense of misery and woe then they're a stronger man or woman than I.

In this classic tale, a little girl named Molly is having problems at school. Her classmates tease her relentlessly, usually making fun of her funny accent and supposed un-American ways. Molly, you see, immigrated to this country with her mother and father from Russia. Jewish in faith, they originally lived in New York City, but now Molly's father has found steady employment in Winter Hill. Here, Molly is the only Jewish girl around, and she suffers mightily at the hands of the other girls. One day, Molly's teacher, Miss Stickley, decides that the class is going to do something a little different for Thanksgiving this year. Each child will design a pilgrim or an Indian for a little diorama and present it to the class. Molly is assigned a pilgrim, and she eagerly tells the assignment to her mama. Her mother, however, listens to the description of what a pilgrim is (someone seeking religious freedom and a life free from persecution) and creates a doll that is a small Russian immigrant. Of course, the other kids at school deride this idea of a pilgrim, until Miss Stickley explains that Molly's doll is perhaps the most appropriate of all. After all, the very idea of Thanksgiving is based on the Jewish harvest holiday of Tabernacles, and unlike any other student in the room, Molly is the real pilgrim.

I have absolutely no problems with this story. I mean, how can you not like it? And how many adults, if you stopped them on the street today, would be able to tell you what Jewish holiday the pilgrims, that came to our land, based Thanksgiving on? Few, I suspect. Molly is an incredibly sympathetic character, and that's probably where my own problems stem from. After all, there's a significant lack of comeuppance in this tale. Molly suffers relentless teasing and problems from other children her age, but that's never really resolved. The evil Elizabeth is never reprimanded for her actions, nor even made to think twice about treating Molly like a human being. Instead, she's nasty from page one until the end and stays that way. Which, honestly, was probably the best way to go. I mean, vengeance doesn't really have a place in children's picture books, does it? But how hard would it have been for Elizabeth to get what's coming to her? Even a little?

What I had a hard time with in this story was Molly's pain. Barbara Cohen describes it beautifully, and we've plenty of gorgeous illustrations by Michael J. Deraney (if that's the version you're purchasing) showing Molly huddled in misery on a swing, running with tears in her eyes from the girls, crying on her Mama's chest, dreading entering her school building, and miserably hiding her doll when other children mock it. It's a lovely book, but distinctly and incredibly painful for me and, I suspect, for certain types of children. For some, however, this book will be a kind of balm. They will see that they are not alone in being teased by other kids, and that Molly suffers just as they suffer.

The story is excellent. The illustrations superb. The moral, unequivocal. If you would like an excellent tale to tell around the Thanksgiving season, you really couldn't find one better. Just be aware of what you're getting yourself into ahead of time. It's a great book, but for some people a distinctly depressing one.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The spirit of Thanksgiving is always with us., September 21, 2001

By	"bluemamma" (San Luis Obispo, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Molly's Pilgrim (Paperback)

The only negative thing I can think of to say about this book is that when I read it aloud, I have a very hard time not crying. It is a short and simple story (longer than a picture book, but an adult can read it aloud in one sitting, and most second or third graders could read it to themselves), but one of the most moving children's books I know of.

Molly is a turn of the century Jewish immigrant girl from Russia. She lives in a small town, where no one understands her, and other children make fun of her clothes, and accent and her ignorance of American customs. In November, her classmates are appalled that she has never heard of Thanksgiving. But as we get to know Molly better, we, and eventually her classmates, realize that this child, who left her country and moved to America so that she and her family could practice their religion without fear is no different from the first pilgrims.

By the time they reach second or third grade, most children have heard the story of the first Thanksgiving many, many times. This is a wonderful way to renew the meaning of the story for them, by reminding them that people are still coming to American for the same reasons they came hundreds of years ago.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A New Meaning of Thanksgiving, January 4, 2002

By	Meena C. (Lexington, KY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Molly's Pilgrim (Paperback)

Molly's Pilgrim is an excellent story of the true meaning of Thanksgiving. Molly has just moved to America from Russia, and is not enjoying it one bit. Kids in her third grade class make fun of her all the time because of her clothes and accent. She can't stand it, especially her worst enemy, Elizabeth. When Molly's class starts a project on Thanksgiving, they are told to make a doll. When Molly tells her mother this, her mother makes a doll for her, and the doll looks exactly the way her mother did when she was a girl. Her mother tells her that the Pilgrims fled England because they wanted to practice their religion freely, this is exactly what Molly's parents did, making them Pilgrims. That day, Molly takes it to school, but it looks very different from everyone else's. The children make fun of her, but they have a very big lesson to learn; the true meaning of Thanksgiving. Anyone will enjoy this story, old or young, because many can relate to it.