Newcomers: Revisiting the First Thanksgiving

by David O'Boyle, Ezekiel Gray (illustrator)

A Native American boy with bad aim draws back his bow at a big roosting bird…he just misses.

The arrow also just misses some Pilgrims sleeping on the beach. Their boat, the eventual endpoint of the runaway arrow, is less lucky. Believing a shot at their vessel means war, the Pilgrims grab their guns in self-defense. Bullets are exchanged with arrows. The event known as the “First Encounter” ensues…all based on misunderstanding.

Feeling to blame for the bad start between his people and the Pilgrims, the Native American boy yearns to make things right. After watching the Newcomers from afar, and seeing their struggles, he thinks he can do this by teaching. But to teach them, he must meet them. Armed with an olive branch instead of an arrow, he enters Plymouth colony for that purpose.

In this revisionist retelling of the events leading up to the first Thanksgiving, everyone is better off because of that decision. Well, everyone besides the turkey.

Kindle Edition

Published November 20, 2024

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars out of 5. Just read through this because I won it in a giveaway on Goodreads. It’s a quick children’s book with illustrations that describe the story. It’s basically the story of how the First Thanksgiving came to be told from the perspective of a Native American and his son. Overall nicely written with an agenda that sometimes the kids are right if the parent would just listen to them. The moral of the story also seems to be to try and see things from other’s perspectives.

There was a simple spelling error on page 29 which always automatically makes me lower my reviews by a star. ‘pace’ should be ‘peace’.

I was surprised that a book about what I thought was the First Thanksgiving had a “This a work fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.” warning at the beginning. I’m sure it had to be there for legal reasons and it doesn’t take away from the cuteness of the story, I just didn’t expect that in a book that I thought was about an actual historical event. It does explain, however, why no one is actually named in the story. If you are used to hearing the story using the actual names of William Bradford, Samoset, and Squanto, you might be a little disappointed.

Overall I am taking away 1 star for spelling and 1/2 star for overall story and illustrations. 3 1/2 stars out of 5.

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book from the giveaway and decided to read it. It was a pretty good book but wasn't the best Thanksgiving book I have read. 3 stars overall.