Master storyteller Jane Yolen marks the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower's arrival by channeling the voice of Plymouth Rock itself. A funny (and fact-checked!) history of a beloved monument.
Jane Yolen is the award-winning author of over three hundred children's books including Last Laughs- Prehistoric Epitaphs; Last Laughs- Animal Epitaphs; Bad Girls (with Heidi E. Y. Stemple); Owl Moon, a Caldecott Medal Winner; the How Do Dinosaurs . . . ? series; and Sea Queens. She has been called the Hans Christian Andersen of the Americas. Sam Streed is a children's book author/illustrator, game artist, and animator. He is the author/illustrator of Alfred's Book of Monsters and is a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design.
In this informative picture book, the anthropomorphic Plymouth Rock
describes its history. An unnamed fact checker, who appears to be a
light-skinned young woman with red glasses and a bun, confirms or
corrects the rock's story. The rock's rhyming prose is written on
an unrolled scroll of paper. Red ink is used to clarify or dispel
the rock's take on its own history. For example, "The disembarkers
stepped on me,/ first footfalls toward their liberty," claims the
rock. However, the fact checker writes, "No large rock or stepping
stone is mentioned in any of the travelers' journals or logs."
Yolen also addresses the Indigenous community. The fact checker
provides an honest account of how the colonizers impacted Native
people: "More and more colonists soon arrived and took Native land
to build their houses. They treated the Native people brutally and
dishonestly." Both Yolen's text and Streed's cartoon illustrations
are inviting. At times the poetry is a tad awkward ("Now placed in/
a portico,/ my life once more/ is put on show") but in general, the
poetry keeps pace with the prose. This title is best suited to an
audience who has some familiarity with Plymouth Rock. VERDICT
Humorous pictures supplement prose and poetry to create a unique,
clever, engaging picture book about one aspect of early American
history.
-School Library Journal
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