New Americans: Colonial Times: 1620-1689

by Betsy Maestro, Giulio Maestro (Illustrator)

Overview

Within 60 years of the Pilgrims' landing at Plymouth in 1620, America's first cities were thriving seaports, public education had begun, books were printed, coins minted, and the postal service was launched. "The New Americans" tells the exciting story of the origins of our rich multicultural heritage. Full color.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780060575724
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	06/29/2004
Series:	American Story Series
Pages:	48
Sales rank:	73,536
Product dimensions:	9.25(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.00(d)
Age Range:	6 - 10 Years

About the Author

Betsy Maestro is the author of the "American Story" series, illustrated by her husband, Giulio. She has also written several other non-fiction picture books, including the Let's-Read-And-Find-Out science books How Do Apples Grow? and Why Do Leaves Change Color? The Maestros live in Old Lyme, Connecticut.

Giulio Maestro is the illustrator of over 100 children’s books. He has also written his own books of word play and has co-authored two I Can Read Books with his son, Marco: What Do You Hear When Cows Sing, and Other Silly Riddles and Geese Find the Missing Piece: School Time Riddle Rhymes. The Maestros live in Old Lyme, CT.

Editorial Reviews

European nations had a variety of reasons for exploring and settling North America. Maestro discusses these in this overview of the founding and growth of the colonies. Relationships with the Native Americans, the introduction of slavery, and the beginnings of colonial resentment with the Navigation Acts passed by England between 1650 and 1696 are also presented. Readers will garner much information from the illustrations that depict colonial homes, clothing, modes of transportation, and tools and weapons. Maps show the location and growth of the European settlements as well as the sites of major Native American Nations. The attractive picture book format will catch the eye of the casual reader while the concise information presented will help students doing research. There are two pages of additional facts about the colonies and exploration included in the back just before the index.

Children's Literature - Sharon Salluzzo

Gr 2-5An 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

School Library Journal

This entry, fourth in The American Story series (third chronologically), covers colonization by the English, Dutch, French, and Spanish, as well as the displacement of the Native Americans, brings in the Pilgrims, Puritans, the beginnings of the Triangle Trade, and comments on the shifting patterns of alliances and warfare between Europeans and native peoples. The author, perhaps inevitably, has to jump around to cover such complex subjects in the limited space of (essentially) a picture-book format, but she is aided by the illustrator's gorgeous maps and illustrations. Also compensating for the lack of narrative flow is the warts-and-all coverage, which puts all cultures on an equal historical footing. As a starting point for research, the quick explanations of many different topics will be useful, and the index and additional back matter will give readers direction in pursuing fuller coverage on a variety of topics. (maps, index) (Nonfiction. 6-10)

Kirkus Reviews