Homes in the Wilderness: A Pilgrim's Journal of Plymouth Plantation in 1620

by William Bradford, Margaret Wise Brown (Editor), Mary Wilson Stewart (Illustrations)

A modern translation of the journal kept by Governor William Bradford and others of the Mayflower company describing the landing of the Pilgrims on Cape Cod, their search for a homesite, the first meetings with Indians, and the final building of the settlement at Plymouth.

Genres: History, American History, Nonfiction, Childrens

74 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 1988

About the author

William Bradford was an English leader of the settlers of the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts, and was elected thirty times to be the Governor after John Carver died. The manuscript of his journal (1620–1647), Of Plymouth Plantation, was not published until 1856. Bradford is credited as the first to proclaim what popular American culture now views as the first Thanksgiving.

Reviews

[Carol Bakker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not the easiest book to read aloud, but it's the only brief book written by a passenger of the Mayflower. Primary sources are my priority. That, alone, earns five stars.

Some say it's a translation, others an adaptation: Margaret Wise Brown's editing retain the flavor of 1620. We found great mussels, very fat and full of sea pearl, but we could not eat them. They made us all sick that did eat, sailors as well as passengers, causing us to cast and scour. [I had to look up scour: to suffer from diarrhea]

Some words sounded discordant. I read 'savages' aloud once; thereafter I substituted Indians. My sweet grandson said, "Does he mean Native Americans?"

Diary entries — September 6, 1620 through March 23, 1621 — document the discoveries, from sailing from Plymouth to making peace with local Natives.

To keep the boys' interest kindled, I printed out blank calendars of the seven months covered. [Long story: 1620 is on the Julian calendar, 2016 is Gregorian calendar. The days and dates won't match if you simply print out September 1620. The 2017/2018 calendar fits. Days are often named. December 11th — On Monday we sounded the harbor...]

After each diary entry, we discussed a good symbol for that day. 5 deer, an ear of corn, rain, etc. The experience was fun, but would've been more so if we had the time to spread the reading of the book over a week.

[the_storied_life (Joyce Santiago) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️ Read aloud for Living Heritage Cycle 1. I wish it were more reader friendly.

[Shauna Ludlow Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting journal entries of the pilgrims' first winter in America. Illustrated by Margaret Wise Brown.