Boom Town
A great story about a resourceful young lady who creates a bakery in the family kitchen. Amanda encourages many people to begin their own businesses too, inspiring a whole town to spring up around her! A fabulous can-do book.
 | author: Sonia Levitin rating:  asin: 0439643945 binding: Paperback list price: $6.99 USD amazon price: $6.99 USD |
Kirsten: An American Girl : 1854 (The American Girls Collection/Boxed Set)
We all really enjoyed this book about Kirsten. Learning history through these gentle American Girls stories is wonderful, and our girls are so interested in the stories as well as all the facts at the end of the book.
 | author: Janet Beeler Shaw rating: asin: 0937295760 binding: Paperback list price: $39.95 USD amazon price: $26.37 USD |
Wagons West!
 | rating: asin: 0374382492 binding: Hardcover list price: $15.00 USD amazon price: $15.00 |
Saddle up for excitement on the Oregon Trail!Way back in eighteen-fifty, when Americans were thrifty,The times were hard, so most folks had to toil;My mama, my pa and me labored hard to guaranteeThat we'd earn a living from the barren soil.
Welcome to Kirsten's World, 1854: Growing Up in Pioneer America (American Girls Collection)
These books have helped our girls (then 10 and 7) to understand this part of history. We read the entire Kirsten story first, which I strongly recommend. That way they understood how it all connected.
 | author: Susan Sinnott Jodi Evert Michelle Jones Yvette Lapierre rating: asin: 1562477706 binding: Hardcover list price: $16.95 USD amazon price: $16.95 |
Presents a look at daily life in pioneer America during the 1850s by following a family that emigrates from Sweden to Minnesota.
Molly's Pilgrim
 | author: Barbara Cohen rating: asin: 0688162797 binding: Hardcover list price: $16.99 USD amazon price: $11.55 USD |
Sparkling new illustrations refresh this Thanksgiving classic based on the true experience of a member of Barbara Cohen's family. The touching story tells how recent immigrant Molly leads her third-grade class to discover that it takes all kinds of pilgrims to make a Thanksgiving. Originally published in 1983, Molly's Pilgrim inspired the 1986 Academy Award winning live-action short film.
My Name Is America: The Journal Of Jasper Jonathan Pierce, A Pilgrim Boy
Our girls (6 and 9) really enjoyed this book and always wanted to hear more each time I had to stop. Laurel tells me she just loves historical fiction when it comes in the form of a journal or diary. This book is a bit intense, starting with two brothers (age 14 - Jasper - and his younger brother Tom) being separated, one goes off on the Mayflower as an indentured servant, and one stays behind. So Jasper creates this journal to tell him about the New World. There are a lot of deaths, even a suicide, so be prepared to explain that one. If you have any concerns about too much death read the book before your child does. Overall, we really enjoyed this tale of Jasper's fascinating adventure, including him running away and being found by Native Americans. In the end (plot spoiler ahead!) he is reunited with his brother. There is a really neat historical note section at the end of the book that we all found interesting, to hear how much of the story was true and just how many of our presidents are decendants from the first settlers.
 | author: Ann Rinaldi rating: asin: 0590510789 binding: Hardcover list price: $10.95 USD amazon price: $9.31 USD |
In 1620, an indentured servant named Jasper Jonathan Pierce sets sail with his master and 100 others on the Mayflower, seeking adventure, freedom from the rules of King James's church, and a new way of life in America.
While many people are familiar with the history of the Pilgrims, popular historical novelist Ann Rinaldi (The Last Silk Dress and A Break With Charity: A Story About the Salem Witch Trials) delves far deeper into the day-to-day life of these brave pioneers. Beleaguered by internal strife and sickness, the passengers and crew of the Mayflower arrived in Plymouth ill-equipped to last the winter. With the help of several Indians who befriended the settlers, many survived, although a number of them died. Viewed through the eyes of 14-year-old Jasper, who records the events of his first 15 months in America in his journal, the Pilgrims' experiences take on a fresh, current feel.
Going to Town (My First Little House)
 | author: Laura Ingalls Wilder rating: asin: 0064434524 binding: Paperback list price: $6.99 USD amazon price: $6.99 USD |
Long, long ago, a little girl named Laura Ingalls lived in a little house in the Big Woods of Wisconsin with her Pa, her Ma, her sisters, Mary and Carrie, and their good old bulldog, Jack. One spring day Pa has a wonderful surprise--he is taking the family on a trip into town!
Sarah Morton's Day: A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Girl
 | author: Scholastic Inc. rating: asin: 0590474006 binding: Paperback list price: $5.99 USD amazon price: $5.99 |
Text and photographs of Plimouth Plantation follow a pilgrim girl through a typical day as she milks the goats, cooks and serves meals, learns her letters, and adjusts to her new stepfather.
Stone Fox
This is one of the books I wish I'd read all the way through before I read it to the girls (then ages 4 and 7). It is a really amazing book, the girls begged to hear it and at the end we all almost cried! This is an excellent story for older kids.
 | author: John Reynolds Gardiner rating:  asin: 0064401324 binding: Paperback list price: $5.50 USD amazon price: $5.50 USD |
Little Willy's Grandfather is sick, and it's up to Willy to save their farm from tax collectors. Their only hope is the prize money from the National Dogsled Race. But a lot of other people want to win the race, too, including Stone Fox, who has never lost a race in his life.
My America: Our Strange New Land, Elizabeth's Jamestown Colony Diary, Book One
Elizabeth is 9 years old and has just arrived in Jamestown with 4 ships full of pilgrims - 5 other ships were lost in the hurricane. She begins her diary and tells the tale of the first 2 months, gathering food, meeting Native Americans - including Pocahontas. This book was interesting and a little scary - a lot of people get summer sickness and die, none of Elizabeth's family dies but her friends do. There is a burial every day near the end, so many people are dying. Elizabeth's mother is pregnant and spends 2 days in labor where Elizabeth worries about her and wonders if the baby will be born dead. However, the diary ends on a good note, the baby is healthy and everyone in her family is well.
 | author: Patricia Hermes rating:  asin: 0439368987 binding: Mass Market Paperback list price: $4.99 USD amazon price: $4.99 USD |
In May 1607, three ships sailed up the James River in Virginia. In the riverbank marshes, they made land and hung the flag England¹s flag establishing the first permanent English colony in Jamestown Virginia. In 1609, the first ship carrying women and children arrived. After 71 days at sea, nine-year-old Elizabeth Baker is thrilled to be on dry land. Lizzie keeps a diary for Caleb, her twin brother who stayed in England because of his weak lungs. In her buoyant entries, Lizzie tells of the abundant forests, trading with and learning from the Indians, and adventures with her new friends.
