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Three Young Pilgrims

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In these richly detailed pages, you'll meet three of the young Pilgrims who sailed on the Mayflower, Bartholomew, Remember, and Mary Allerton.

When Bartholemew, Remember, and Mary Allerton and their parents first step down from the Mayflower after sixty days at sea, they never dream that life in the New World will be so hard. Many in their Plymouth colony won't make it through the winter, and the colony's first harvest is possible only with the help of two friends, Samoset and Squanto.

Richly detailed paintings show how the pilgrims lived after landing at Plymouth, through the dark winter and into the busy days of spring, summer, and fall. Culminating with the excitement of the original Thanksgiving feast, Three Young Pilgrims makes history come alive.

40 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 1992

3 people are currently reading
292 people want to read

About the author

Cheryl Harness

71 books20 followers
Author and illustrator. Worked variously as a student teacher, waitress, short-order cook, portrait artist, and needlework designer. Greeting-card artist for Hallmark Cards and Current. Presenter at schools.

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5 stars
144 (38%)
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138 (37%)
3 stars
76 (20%)
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11 (2%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
Profile Image for Andrea Adrian.
13 reviews
January 24, 2011
I bought this for my children. It is the story of the Allerton children. Remember Allerton is their 11th great grandmother.
51 reviews2 followers
October 20, 2014
Excellent realistic account of Thanksgiving with beautiful detailed illustrtrations that make the journey and the life that the pilgrims lead extremely understandable and visual for an elementry school student. In addition our family is diectly descendant from Isacc Allerton. The people in this story are all real although, of course, the story is fictional. It is of course a family favorite. As a librarian I have seen many authors do presentations to elementary students, Cheryl Harness is one of the best I have ever seen. If you have the opportunity to have her to your school, books store or event you are in for a treat.
Profile Image for Judy.
3,575 reviews66 followers
November 23, 2019
This story focuses on the Mayflower voyage and the first year at Plymouth. The text is brief and the art is amazing -- full of relevant details. A few pages address the first Thanksgiving.

The add'l pages are the ones that kids are likely to turn to when they want more information. There are maps of the Atlantic Ocean and the Cape Cod area, the layout of Plymouth, and a timeline of relevant events both in the New World and globally. There's also a cut-away view of the Mayflower with everything labeled (including rooms, sails, masts, and other basic parts of the ship) except the "bathroom." Also included are three double-page spreads of the people -- the Pilgrims (named), the 'Strangers' (named), and the 'Indians' (tribes named, a few individuals).

I visited Plymouth one Thanksgiving weekend, and I can attest to some pretty dismal weather -- grey, wet, windy, dark, cold. I kept wondering what the weather had been like for that fateful gathering 400 years ago.
6 reviews1 follower
August 16, 2021
This is the story of three young children who were passengers on the Mayflower. Through their eyes, the history of the pilgrim's first year in the New World is recounted. The main story is told as a narrative through which we learn of the hardships, illness, and hard work of the Pilgrims. This story follows the traditional narrative of the Pilgrim's 60 day crossing of the Atlantic, the Mayflower Compact, the Great Sickness, and interactions with the native Wampanoag through to the first Thanksgiving. There is some attempt at broadening the Native perspective, but in this the book falls short, glossing over the impacts of colonization in an effort to preserve the Pilgrims' positive reputation.
The unique thing about this book, that I feel gives it value as an educational book, is how the author combines the emotional narrative story with a great deal of factual information presented in the illustrations and captions. This makes the book accessible to students who prefer to learn history through stories, and those who prefer a non-fiction approach. This might be used as part of a unit in which many books are read that explore differing perspectives on colonization, Pilgrims, or the first Thanksgiving.
Profile Image for Margaret Chind.
3,212 reviews268 followers
November 25, 2020
I own a paperback copy of this book. I think I bought it because of my new found passion to buy everything Cheryl Harness has ever written and illustrated. I was elated to have it on my shelf because it is part of the new Sonlight Curriculum History/Bible/Literature Kindergarten released in early 2020 for Exploring American History that I am reading with my six-year-old son (Rascal). I was equally thrilled to check it off my list when I was reading through Books to Build On for more ideas. While I'm not quite certain, it wouldn't surprise me to find it recommended by Beautiful Feet and Memoria Press, as well.

This book is vivid with descriptive illustrations and with the bubbles and labels leads to re-reading or exploring later to delve deeper. Written after an adventure to Plimouth in Plymouth, MA and just enough history to be true but not too scary. Following three siblings children from the boat to their lives.
Profile Image for Kristie.
27 reviews2 followers
August 30, 2022
Daughter - We read this as part of your Kindergarten History curriculum. It’s a wonderful way to tell a story, through the eyes of 3 young siblings, traveling to America in search of freedom. You loved all the pictures, anecdotes and maps and so did I, which lead to even deeper discussions. You were sad when the children were sad and hopeful when the children were hopeful. Such a wonderful message of peace and perseverance. As a mother, it made my heart ache to see the lengths this family (and many others like them) went through to seek freedom and here we are years and years later, throwing it all away. I hope you will always know what freedom is baby girl.
Profile Image for Brittany.
302 reviews3 followers
November 18, 2021
Fair but short insight into how a typical Pilgrim child’s day would have been beginning on the Mayflower. Good read for kindergartners through 2nd grade.
Profile Image for Mary.
218 reviews4 followers
January 17, 2024
Loved the illustrations. Has a lot of great information but is more for reference or kids reading by themselves versus a family read aloud.
Profile Image for Sandy.
1,554 reviews5 followers
April 1, 2021
This great picture book is a historical account of the hardships and kindness from the Native Americans that the first European settlers experienced as they created their new lives in the wilderness of what is now the US. My children enjoyed the story but I was particularly intrigued by the list of all the other events that were occurring around the world at the same time as the Pilgrims 1620 immigration. It is hard to believe that Galileo was discovering the moons of Jupiter, the Romonavs were in power in Russia and Shakespeare was writing plays in England. This was certainly a busy time in history.
Profile Image for ♥♣Mary♦♠ If She So Pleases.
1,445 reviews5 followers
January 18, 2022
I love historical children's books. This is an overall good book but I hold some things against it. First, there are hardly any brunettes in the book. Brunettes are not a minority in Europe. Yes, Brits are mostly brunette...only 29% are natural blondes and that's mostly due to invasion by the vikings...and they are mostly concentrated in one area of Britain.

Second is that in Florida we learn that the first Thanksgiving was at St. Augustine, 56 years before the Puritan Pilgrim thanksgiving at Plymouth Plantation (Massachusetts). Although the current national practice is that of the annual reenactment of the Pilgrims’ harvest festival in 1621. This is because the British won out the Spanish and the French...in essence, a rewriting of history by the winning forces. The first Thanksgiving, as taught by National Park Services at The Castillo de San Marcos, took place just 300 yards north of the Castillo de San Marcos, by the Spanish, at what is now the Mission of Nombre de Dios. And when there is mention of Spain in this children's book, it's to note that some Native Americans were sold as slaves to Spain...

No doubt, this is a nice book. But is it wholly accurate? It depends on whom you ask. There isn't even a footnote on the St. Augustine Thanksgiving.
Profile Image for Laurie Wheeler.
636 reviews8 followers
June 4, 2022
A book (ideal for Grammar level students) chock full of factoids was made fun through:
-colorful illustrations true to history
-whimsical compass rose and map of the Mayflower's journey
-unit study opener with grand cross-section of Mayflower and parts of ship-in proper historical Pilgrim context
-the beloved story filled with drama and action
-Timeline comparison to other explorers

As a historical seamstress, I am especially glad of the "most accurate clothing" rendered in this book for those of us seeking to create historic outfits. (My kids always had fun dressing up like history. They always wanted to be as historically accurate as possible.)

Grammar students focus on facts. This book is full of them in a most pleasing way! Enjoy!
150 reviews
May 6, 2020
The pictures are awesome. The text is conflicting: this is supposed to be just one little story, according to the author, and not the whole Pilgrim story and there are pictures that are packed with tidbits—and confusingly way too much information for “just one little story”—from the entire story. This is not a children’s book, just because it has few words (because those few words are too hard for children). The beautiful pictures would have been better with a complete story and written for 4th grade level. Too bad; it missed the mark.
Profile Image for Joy Kidney.
Author 10 books60 followers
November 13, 2020
My favorite Pilgrim book for children!

This is a corner of the Mayflower story, through one family, but is such a favorite because of the delightful illustrations and maps! There's a stunning cut-away of the Mayflower itself and the maps are charming. "Picturing" everyone aboard the ship gives a better understanding of just how many arrived in the new world, and relative ages. There were so many children among the "Saints."
77 reviews1 follower
April 23, 2018
This book gives true facts and details about pilgrims, and has good pictures to accompany the text. The author wants this book to be used to gain interest so readers will do their own research to learn more about the topic. This would be a great book to read aloud for Thanksgiving.
Profile Image for Rebecca.
930 reviews11 followers
May 9, 2020
A nicely illustrated story of one of the families of the Pilgrims. Additional details and information make you want to pull it out again when the kids get older and ready for more info.
Profile Image for EronMarie.
89 reviews
November 11, 2020
What a wonderful read, my children were very interested. I cried at the loss of Pilgrims and the desire to live in a land where they could worship freely. Very very timely read.
Profile Image for Kat.
754 reviews1 follower
September 15, 2021
So much information. I found the information on the tribes in the area at the time when the Pilgrims arrived fascinating.
Profile Image for Remy.
335 reviews6 followers
April 6, 2023
I like the illustrations and also the info of what else was going on in the world at that time. It's a nice mix of fiction and non-fiction.
Profile Image for Jennifer.
99 reviews
November 22, 2020
This is a really good children's book about the history of those on the Mayflower. It tells the story of three young siblings (one of which is my 10th great grandmother). It tells of their life on the ship, but also after. The book is beautifully illustrated and has so many facts about the ship, the people and the area they came to! Plus it's fun to read a story about our family member:)
Profile Image for Barbara Radisavljevic.
204 reviews27 followers
November 23, 2008
The author and illustrator, Cheryl Harness, has created a panorama of paintings that captures the Pilgrim story from the time that three young children, Mary, Remember, and Bartholomew, find themselves in the middle of the ocean on the Mayflower, until Mary’s death in 1699. If your children are visual learners, you’ve got to get this book. The first major painting is a map of the Atlantic Ocean showing the sailing Mayflower with geographical notes tracing the adventures of the Pilgrims from the time they fled England for Holland until they settled in Plymouth. The next double-page spread is a cross-section of the Mayflower showing the people and supplies crowded onto the various parts of the ship. The main story is illustrated by spectacular paintings showing life on the Mayflower and in Plymouth. Then there is a labeled picture-map of Plymouth Plantation with a time-line of earlier New World explorations along the bottom and an illustrated chart on the far right showing what else was going on in other parts of the world while the Pilgrims were having their adventures. The last pages in the book contain labeled pictures of all the Mayflower passengers, with one double-page spread allotted to the Saints, and another to the Strangers, and the difference between them explained. The Indians get their own double-page spread which is bordered with small drawings of native plants, animals, and sea-life. The last page is a bibliography.
Profile Image for Luisa Knight.
3,227 reviews1,225 followers
November 4, 2022
I liked this one! Told in a story form, you'll follow three siblings, Mary, Remember, and Bartholomew, as they travel from England to Plymouth.

The illustrations are most enchanting! I'd recommend getting the book just to see them.

Ages: 4 - 10

Cleanliness: mentions mermaids and shows a picture of one on a map. Mentions beer and a pipe.

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews

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