Margaret Pumphrey's Pilgrim Stories

by Margaret B. Pumphrey, Elvajean Hall

An account of the experiences of the Pilgrims from the time they left England to their first harvest in the New World.

Genres: History, American History, Thanksgiving, Nonfiction, Childrens, School, Chapter Books

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1910

About the author

Margaret B. Pumphrey (1872- )

Reviews

[Missy · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was bad. It was so bad. There some good stories of why the pilgrims came to America, etc. But when it came to the interactions with Native Americans, the blatant racism was a bit hard to swallow. The author uses the term "savages" several times in reference to them - even when describing casual interactions. It also "quotes" Indians saying things like, "Ugh, me want fire water." Oh man. I know it was written by compiling journal entries, etc from the time, but I couldn't help thinking, "I wonder what the Indian's journal entries would have been like." Anyway, I'd skip this one if I were you.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was such an engaging, inspiring look at the Pilgrims, entirely different than my textbook-style view of their story and their coming to the new world. Their lives are full of courage and adventure, and my kids - ages 8, 6, and 3 - all loved reading it and asked to read more.


“The pilgrims were big adventurers. The pilgrims really believed God protects them and cares for them. It showed me a whole new way of looking at God, like He is someone who would really protect somebody. Like when people are dying, He helped them to treat the Indians as brothers instead of their enemies so they didn’t have even more people die because of the Indians coming to fight. So it just shows me a whole new way of looking at God.” -A, age 8

“I think it’s cool that they were willing to just keep trying to believe in God and worship him their way. I give it 5 stars because I think that it’s cool how the teacher looked at the journal and made it good for kids with all the interesting parts.” -H, age 6

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this history through story telling and my children listened pretty well. The interactions with the native Americans are sad but I think they gave interesting context for us to discuss how some people felt and treated the native Americans at the time.

[Stacy · Rating 5 out of 5]

We LOVED this book. To be clear though, we read the Expanded Version copyright date is 2009, and it has a little intro by Rea Berg. It's 182 pages.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. We loved that it shared facts from the pilgrims actual journals in a kid friendly format. It did not attempt to "modernize" the wording, obviously offending some. It kept it real and raw, for better or worse, but I appreciated it. We also loved the little facts spread throughout the book, which had nothing to do with the pilgrims but it was sharing what was going on in the world at the same time as the pilgrims present day. Absolutely fascinating. A wonderful living book. It will be a yearly read for us each November. Now I'm off to get the books it's based on....

[Victoria (hotcocoaandbooks) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a good guide to explain about who the pilgrims were, what their struggles were like in England, why they went to Holland, why they decided to go across the ocean to a new world, and what life was like for them in that new place. I used this as part of my 1st grader's homeschool curriculum and read the whole thing to him bit by bit and he learned a lot and enjoyed it. My only problem is that I had to constantly read "Native American Indians" or "Indians" instead of what they wrote throughout the book calling them "Savages"! It made me sad, and I don't want my sons to think that people who are not of their culture are savage.

[Shannen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing is great, the storyline pace is great, but I would not let this be the end-all be-all for learning about the pilgrims. There’s so much conflicting information out there that it’s hard to discern what’s real (something we may never know), so could this be in a larger lineup? Sure. Our next read will be the book on Squanto by Joseph Bruchac to get another angle. This did offer a lot of discussions about biases, word choices, and perspectives while not getting so deep with an 8 year old that she’s lost.

[Amy Bodkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I liked about this retelling of the Pilgrims' story is that the author was rather honest about how the Pilgrims felt about the natives. The Pilgrims were afraid of the natives because they were different and had cultural and communication challenges. She also suggests at times how the natives might have interpreted the actions of the Pilgrims. This book is the fairest representation I have read so far, though I would say it is not told from a native perspective.

[Anna Schubert · Rating 3 out of 5]

The sections on the Pilgrims' lives in England and Holland were good, but the sections involving the Pilgrims' interactions with Native/Indigenous peoples needed pretty heavy editing as I read it aloud to my six-year-old.

[Ammie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half of the book is wonderful, five stars. I will reread the "before America" half of the book next year for sure. I will substitute the second half though.

[Rosa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm giving this 4 stars in spite of some serious issues with its portrayal of Native Americans because the accounts of pilgrim life are truly fascinating. Moreover, when introducing this book among students or children (the language is not overly simplistic but remains accessible to young readers), a teacher or parent can address the problematic portrayal of Native American characters (often referred to as "savages" in the text) by discussing how the pilgrims' ignorance to Native cultures would have shaped their idea of their neighbors in America.

[Stacy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this to my son Camden who is 8 and in 3rd grade. We are studying early American history and I thought this book would be a good addition. This book proved to be a wonderful living history book full of short stories of the Pilgrim families and the early colonists. Towards the end, the stories share how dangerous life was for the colonists due to the unfriendly Indians. My son also gave this book 5 stars! We both learned a lot and it held his attention beautifully. The book is also full of wonderful colored illustrations to help the reader visualize what life was like. At the end of each chapter, they have vocabulary words with definitions and comprehension questions. My son always did very well on the comprehension questions, which is a testament to how well this book is written. I will be reading this book to my youngest son, who is 3, when he is studies early American history when he gets a little older.

[Tasha Hackett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this! Read it aloud to 5 and 8 year old.
We read the expanded version. I saw some reviews that gave it a terrible rating based on the perception of the Indians.

I did not find those quotes to be relevant in this version, there is little interaction with the indians, and a few stilted phrases from Squanto. From what I can tell the account is very factual. Sickness and starvation did kill half of the settlement the first winter, but it does not go into elaborate detail.

As a mother, it was a hard book to read because I identified with the women and other mothers in this story and how hard it must have been for them to make the journey from England to Holland and then pack up again to go to this unknown land, some of them leaving a few of their children behind.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Early American history read aloud for the boys. It was nice to have a little more personalized telling of the Pilgrim's journey to the colonies from Holland to many years into their life here. The boys enjoyed that the author focused on the children's lives and I enjoyed the anecdotes. My main complaint with this book is the portrayal of the Native Americans. Making the Indians say "ugh!"? Really? I realize this is an older book and that used to be a pretty stereotype but it still bugged me. After a few instances, I started editing it out.

[Tarissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book as a reading during the month of November. Even as an adult, I cherished the history that gushed from the pages, and sweet and enticing stories it shared. This is a simple way for kids (or hey!... adults) to learn history from a story, instead of a textbook all the time. I found myself reflecting on the reasons of why the Puritans had to leave England and search for new ground, and I kept picking up on details that I may not have known (or remembered). Overall, it's a great read.

[Wendy Leonard-Richardson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this to my children as part of an early American history curriculum. There was a lot of factual basis in this book....from what I gather. It is, however, very skewed in favor of the pilgrims. I definitely had to edit as I was reading. The favor of the pilgrims and disrespect of the native Americans was evident early in the book. There was one scene in which the pilgrims came upon a native village and violated their privacy and then stole the natives' corn....but it was all good because they planned to pay them back someday??? That was one of the more minor incidents too.

[Penny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story format and information about the Pilgrims. Discussion questions follow each chapter. Chronology and events are clear, and chapters are short for young readers. Good as a read-aloud or for independent readers. We'll be using this book for subsequent years.

[Elisabeth Harmon · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite part about this, while being a historical account with the intention of educating (most likely youth), it was really prettily written. Sometimes even beautifully written. So I didn't feel like my kids were suffering through a textbook or a "twaddle" book as CM might say.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I particularly enjoyed Part I, the retelling of the pilgrim story, especially the years in Holland since I've read so little about that time span. The art by Lucy Fitch Perkins enhances the story.

[Jason Carwile · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was amazing for me to listen to on audiobook. I especially found compelling the interactions with the indigenous peoples they encountered after fleeing England and deciding to leave Holland(also an interesting cultural observation). I did my undergrad in Cultural Anthropology and my Masters in Linguistics, so to see how the misunderstandings of cultural values leads to conflict is particularly poignant. Though both sides can rightfully be accused of various atrocities, in a sense it was the fault of neither because nobody understood one another. They each offended and dishonored one another because they didn't know what was honorable and acceptable in the other society to begin with which led to conflicts of increasing proportions. It is a sad but common part of history, and is a lesson to those of us looking back now because it can and will be repeated. It is an unavoidable part of human history.

[Ashley Kanazawich · Rating 2 out of 5]

A "cuted down" story to help children relate to the journey of the pilgrim children, but the cuteness stops there.

It is not an accurate depiction of Native American history, not to mention the overuse of the word "savages." I understand that was how they spoke about Natives back then, but I would think we've learned something since and could examine how we describe their old language, especially in books for children.

I enjoyed learning about life in Holland but was disappointed in reading to my child that the Pilgrims "did not want their children to be like the children in Holland," and that they moved on when their children became too friendly with the Dutch language and lifestyle.

Like I said, I write this review with complete understanding that this book was written about the way life was long ago, and things were different then. However, my opinion remains steadfast at 2 stars.

[Grace Markey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Euro-centric white washed historical fiction. The accounts of the Pilgrims struggles in England, causing them to move to Holland was interesting, but once this book brought in the subject of the indigenous peoples of America, the blatant racism (I don’t know if it’s the author’s own racism, or the racism of the 17th century) is staggering. I’m supposed to be doing this as a read aloud for school with my son, but I am having a hard time with it. There’s inaccuracies as it makes Native Americans look dumb and like they can’t do anything for themselves without the help of the Europeans. Completely inaccurate. I don’t recommend this book at all.

[Brittany · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whew. We read this out loud as a part of our study on the pilgrims in the Early American History package from Beautiful Feet. Our children enjoyed it eventually, though I don’t wholly credit the book as much because I began narration with them middle of the book. That was when their interest perked up, though could be that was when they finally began to not just hear but understand the story from a deeper perspective.

It’s a really great addition and I’m glad we did it. The writing was brief enough for mid elementary. In actuality I’d give this a 3.5.

[Jennifer Parent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insights of my 12 year old son, Hunter: I really liked the stories about the Indians because they had conflict. It was interesting to see what happened before and after the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock. I knew that the treaty between the Pilgrims and the Indians lasted 50 years, but I didn’t know what happened after that. I found the book very intriguing and really liked the stories about how they did the Sabbath too.

[Dani Chavez ♥ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m not sure what I expected from this book. This book regards “Indians” (natives) as “savages” and as a problem. Even though this is what the pilgrims did write, the author also writes it as well. These are the kind of novels that have been published for years in the US promoting this ideology that has regressed us as a society.

[Kari Shepherd · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was originally written in the early 1900s. It is written at a good level for a child to be read to, and I appreciated the first half of the book about the pilgrims. The second half once they reached America went downhill in regards to how the Native Americans were portrayed. Of course, anything written in the early 1900s is going to be at least a little bit problematic.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this as a part of a curriculum with my kids, it was easy to follow and interesting but had several inaccuracies that we were able to discuss. So it’s a good starting point for teaching history but requires discussion.

[Donna Peake · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read for the young and old. I still don't quite understand why the Pilgrims didn't remain in Holland. It didn't seem like Holland was so bad. They came to America and fought a hard life just to survive.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a homeschool read for our curriculum. Overall it was a great read for my daughter to learn about the pilgrims! There were a few instances I felt were rather unfair stereotypes or portrayals of Native Americans but overall it was generous to both sides.

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had fun details my kids enjoyed. The pilgrims did refer to the natives as savages but I thought it was true to the times and a great teaching moment to have with my kids. Just ask your kids how they thought the Native Americans felt when they learned the definition of savages.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice book to listen to with the kids to get a taste of pilgrim life. I was pleasantly surprised to find our library had this on Hoopla so we could digitally check it out and listen to it.