You Wouldn't Want to Be an American Colonist! (Revised Edition)

by Jacqueline Morley

Overview

This hilarious series gives the reader a lighter look at social studies and science as it takes them on a tour through the gory;dark;horrific side of life in ancient times.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780531245026
Publisher:	Scholastic Library Publishing
Publication date:	01/15/2013
Series:	You Wouldn't Want to
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	8.10(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.30(d)
Age Range:	8 - 11 Years

About the Author

Jacqueline Morley is a popular children's author and especially enjoys sharing her love of ancient cultures and history with young readers.

Editorial Reviews

This brief history of the Virginia colonies is brightly illustrated with cartoon-like characters. The text comes in short, conversational snatches that begin with England's desire to send colonists to America in hopes of finding gold and silver. Walter Raleigh convinces Queen Elizabeth I that he has found a good site, and he sends out the first ship with 500 males settlers who land in 1585 in the Roanoke, Virginia area. A second expedition, which includes women, arrives in 1587, but the settlers antagonize the Algonquians, whose land they are taking, and when the third expedition arrives, the settlement has been destroyed. In 1607, English colonists come to Jamestown, Virginia, to establish a trading colony. In spite of swampy land, mosquitoes carrying yellow fever, ambushes by the Algonquians, and scarcity of food, this colony survives by exporting tobacco to England, though in its first eighteen years, death claims 6,040 of the 7,289 settlers who come there. John Rolfe, the settler who develops the colony's tobacco crop, marries Pocahontas, the Algonquian girl who earlier saved John Smith's life. They visit England with their child and are entertained at court, but Pocahontas becomes ill and dies before they can return to the colony. Following the text are a glossary, and index, a list of some of the laws of the colony, a list of four herbal medicines, and a recipe for pottage. The book is part of the "You Wouldn't Want to...American History" series. Reviewer: Judy DaPolito

Children's Literature - Judy DaPolito