Who Was First? Discovering America

Who Was First? Discovering America

Written by: Russell Freedman

"Many generations of American school children were taught that Columbus discovered America, and a holiday reminds us every October. But historical investigation in recent years has shown us otherwise. There is evidence that adventurers, explorers, traders, and nomads from various parts of the globe set foot on American soil long before 1492. And expeditions that landed in the Americas reported people already living there—indicating that America had been “discovered” before.

Russell Freedman brings his legendary skills as researcher and storyteller to this fresh and intriguing look at the American past. Colorful legends and first-person accounts are woven into the riveting narrative, which also illuminates the way historians and mapmakers have gathered, evaluated, and recorded information throughout the ages."

Product Description

Online Resources:
http://www.dcfaward.org/Activities/2008-09%20Reviews%20and%20Discussion%20Questions.htm#WHO_WAS_FIRST_

The Lost Colony of Roanoke

The Lost Colony of Roanoke

Written by: Jean Fritz

"The history of the Lost Colony is more than a simple tale of settlers who disappeared, leaving a cryptic message behind. Fritz weaves the tangled threads of historical records, the multiple voyages, and the large cast of significant figures into a single narrative that enables children to envision the main events as well as many colorful details. The presentation is surprisingly traditional in some ways, from a Eurocentric reference to America as the "newfound land" to the anecdote (undocumented, as the appended notes acknowledge) about Sir Walter Raleigh's laying his coat across a puddle for Queen Elizabeth. In four chapters, Fritz discusses the English exploration of the region, the settlement on Roanoke Island, the mysterious disappearance of the colonists, and the conjectures, hoaxes, and evidence that have fueled speculation about the colony for 400 years."

Booklist Review

Online Resources:
http://www.kyrene.org/schools/brisas/sunda/mystery/roanoke_files/frame.htm
http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/ushistory/roanoke1.htm
http://www.kidinfo.com/American_History/Colonization_Roanoke.html

Mayflower 1620: A New Look at a Pilgrim Voyage

Mayflower 1620: A New Look at a Pilgrim Voyage

Written by: Peter Arenstam, John Kemp, Catherine O'Neill Grace, & Plimoth Plantation

"Plimoth Plantation and the National Geographic Society come together to tell the true story behind the legendary voyage of the Mayflower. A meticulously researched work, Mayflower 1620 offers children a compelling, fresh account of this much-told story.

Vibrant photography of a rare reenactment using the Mayflower II leads readers imaginatively into the narrative. The vivid and informative text explores the story behind the exhibits at the living-history museum in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Primary sources record what the voyagers wore, what they ate, and telling details of their journey. First-person accounts reveal the hopes and dreams they carried. Readers share in the long hours at sea, and in the dangers faced after landfall. Extensive end notes, a map, a detailed chronology, and a bibliography round out the full story of the Mayflower.

Readers experience a new look at this seminal historical event through the eyes of those who now regularly inhabit the world of the pilgrims—the actors who interpret the Pilgrim Voyage. This eye-opening book teaches children the value of closely reexamining everything we think we know."

Product Description

Online Resources:
http://www.plimoth.org/

1607: A New Look at Jamestown

1607: A New Look at Jamestown

Written by: Karen Lange

"In 1994, scientists unearthed important new evidence about the original Jamestown fort. The work is ongoing and has changed many established ideas about the early settlers. 1607 incorporates these findings and offers a fascinating look at archaeology in action. Color photographs of costumed interpreters and re-created buildings from the Jamestown Settlement living-history museum depict both English and Native American ways of life. Varying perspectives of the period are represented, including evidence that suggests that Native women married English settlers and lived at the fort; how the arrival of English women changed the dynamics of the settlement; and the importance of indentured servants versus the relatively small presence of African slaves. Attractive, engaging, and informative, this title should be in every collection."

School Library Journal Review

Online Resources:
http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=269
http://www.virtualjamestown.org/page2.html

Blood on the River: Jamestown 1607

Blood on the River: Jamestown 1607

Written by: Elisa Carbone

"Twelve-year-old Samuel Collier is a lowly commoner on the streets of London. So when he becomes the page of Captain John Smith and boards the ship the Susan Constant, bound for the New World, he can’t believe his good fortune. He’s heard that gold washes ashore with every tide. But beginning with the stormy journey and his first contact with the native people, he realizes that the New World is nothing like he had ever imagined.The lush Virginia shore where they establish the colony of James Town is both beautiful and forbidding, and it’s hard to know who’s a friend or foe. As he learns the language of the Algonquin Indians and observes Captain Smith’s wise diplomacy, Samuel begins to see that he can be whomever he wants to be in this new land."

Product Description

Online Resources:
http://www.elisacarbone.com/educators/BloodRiverStudyGuide.html

The Adventurous Life of Myles Standish and the Amazing-but-True Survival Story of Plymouth Colony

The Adventurous Life of Myles Standish and the Amazing-but-True Survival Story of Plymouth Colony

Written by: Cheryl Harness

"Instead of a standard biography, Harness chronicles the history of the Plymouth Pilgrims from their troubles in England to their first years in North America, with the focus on Standish. Separating documented history from speculation, the narrative explains religious movements, introduces key figures, and gives a balanced account of Pilgrim-Indian relationships. In contrast to many Pilgrim histories, the tone is casual (e.g., "Without Squanto the translator, these English wouldn't be able to go around getting cozy with everybody, messing up the balance of power.") Harness' familiar detailed pictures appear here as prints. A bibliography of resources is appended, along with lists of Mayflower passengers, recommended Web sites and places to visit. A reader-friendly approach to history."

Booklist Review

Online Resources:
http://www.mayflowerhistory.com/Passengers/MylesStandish.php

Exploration and Conquest: The Americas After Columbus: 1500-1620

Exploration and Conquest: The Americas After Columbus: 1500-1620

Written by: Betsy Maestro
Illustrated by: Giulio Maestro

"This ambitious sequel to the Maestros' The Discovery of the Americas begins with a revisionist summation of Christopher Columbus's famous feats: the explorer "was not the first to discover the Americas. But his voyages led to the European exploration of the New World." The book covers more than 130 years of exploration, presenting brief overviews of Magellan, Cortes, Pizarro, Hudson, Drake, and Champlain. Betsy Maestro also discusses the effects of these incursions on native peoples; she touches upon the African slave trade, the decimation of the Aztec civilization and the general failure of Europeans to honor their agreements with Native Americans."

Publishers Weekly Review

Online Resources:
http://www.uen.org/themepark/exploration/newworld.shtml
http://www.learningthroughhistory.com/newsletter/archives/32005.php

The Discovery of the Americas: From Prehistory Through the Age of Columbus

The Discovery of the Americas: From Prehistory Through the Age of Columbus

Written by: Betsy Maestro
Illustrated by: Giulio Maestro

"The Maestros begin at the beginning as far as we know it, with the crossing of the Bering Land Bridge over 20,000 years ago. They carefully trace what is known of those Stone Age people, and include little-known points such as the possible visits of Phoenician explorers, Irish monks, Japanese fishermen, as well as the fairly well-documented Viking settlements. Illustrations show striking visual comparisons of ancient artifacts from both the Old and New Worlds, which reveal strong similarities. An appropriate emphasis is given to the thousands of years of human civilizations before Europeans established permanent settlements. The arrival of Columbus takes place almost halfway through the book.

Conflicts between explorers who were fiercely ethnocentric and the native people who were often just as fierce in their own defense are treated with trenchant objectivity. Attractive, easy-to-use appendixes give tables of dates, pre-Columbian cultures, European explorers, and other facts."

School Library Journal Review

Online Resources:
http://teacherlink.ed.usu.edu/tlresources/units/monsonunits/melhur/index.htm

Beyond the Sea of Ice: The Voyages of Henry Hudson

Beyond the Sea of Ice: The Voyages of Henry Hudson

Written by: Joan Elizabeth Goodman & Fernando Rangel

"This attractive volume from the Great Explorers Books series begins with an introduction that sets the stage for the Age of Exploration and Hudson's part in it. A foldout map indicating the routes of Hudson's four voyages of exploration extends beyond the pages, making it accessible to readers as they follow his story through the text. Each chapter focuses on one voyage, including its sponsors, purpose, difficulties (sometimes calamities), and its outcome. Full-page, bordered paintings provide dramatic visions of events, while small ink drawings and maps are also effective. An introduction to Hudson's voyages that will spark readers' interest."

Booklist Review

Online Resources:
http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/ciai/chf/elemhudson/hudsonelemintro.html
http://www.allaboutexplorers.com/teachers

Henry the Navigator: Prince of Portuguese Exploration

Henry the Navigator: Prince of Portuguese Exploration

Written by: Lisa Ariganello

"Read about the man who started it all in this exciting new book that traces the beginnings of the European Age of Exploration through the sponsorship of voyages by Prince Henry of Portugal. Trace the adventures of his sailors as they voyaged down the West Coast of Africa in the 1400s, laying the foundations for a Portuguese colonial empire."

Publishers Description

Online Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_the_Navigator
http://cybersleuth-kids.com/sleuth/History/Explorers/Henry_the_Navigator/index.htm

Encounter

Encounter

Written by: Jane Yolen
Illustrated by: David Shannon

"When Christopher Columbus landed on the island of San Salvador in 1492, what he discovered were the Taino Indians. Told from a young Taino boy’s point of view, this is a story of how the boy tried to warn his people against welcoming the strangers, who seemed more interested in golden ornaments than friendship. Years later the boy, now an old man, looks back at the destruction of his people and their culture by the colonizers."

Online Resources:
http://www.mandygregory.com/SocialStudiesActivities.htm
*scroll down the page midway to the "explorers" section. Great word and pdf docs you can download.

Folllow the Dream: The Story of Christopher Columbus

Follow the Dream: The Story of Christopher Columbus

Written and Illustrated by: Peter Sis

"The 15th century comes vividly alive in this splendidly original picture book about Christopher Columbus. The straightforward text combines documented fact and legend, while the pictures show Columbus' gradual emergence from a fortress of medieval belief as he begins to realize his dream of finding a new route to the Orient."

Publishers Description

Online Resources:
http://teacherlink.ed.usu.edu/tlresources/units/Byrnes-celebrations/columbus.html

The New Americans: Colonial Times: 1620-1689

The New Americans: Colonial Times: 1620-1689

Written by: Betsy Maestro
Illustrated by: Giulio Maestro

"An 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."

School Library Journal Review

Online Resources:
http://atozteacherstuff.com/Themes/Colonial_America/
http://www.carolhurst.com/subjects/ushistory/colonial.html