1621: A New Look at Thanksgiving

1621: A New Look at Thanksgiving. Catherine O’Neill Grace and Margaret M. Bruchac with Plimoth Plantation. Illus. by Sisse Brimberg and Cotton Coulson. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 2001. 47 pages. $17.95 (Hardcover). ISBN 0-7922-7027-4. Grades 3-5.

My Thoughts...

I thought this book might be drag, but I was pleasantly proved wrong. I admired this book for more than its gorgeous photographs and bountiful information, which I will return to later. I was blown away by the acknowledgement and admission of flawed history and presentation along with stereotypes and falsehoods that we have come to learn about as Thanksgiving. I am pleased that the Plimoth Plantation is working to show the other side of the story and reassess what they thought they knew about history. This is not something I feel is admitted to very often, and I am glad to know that this book is working to really teach students and dispel myths.

I loved that the book was blunt and honest, “The history of the English colonies in America is a history of European people imposing their culture, politics, and religion onto Native people.” After seeing how this book was going to be I was thrilled to keep going. Of course I learned a ton from this book! The book was organized chronologically so it was easy to follow, and I think other readers will appreciate that. I think what I enjoyed most was how the book went over the myths and common beliefs and well, de-bunked them and explained what really happened. Not only does this book aim to teach, but it aims to get the readers doing something. They offer hands on approach by putting recipes in the book that could actually be completed for a Thanksgiving feast.

The photographs in this book, some of reenactments, some of real people going about their lives, really open readers’ eyes to the information in the book. I love that some of the photos are even a little blurry to show that it is real and this really did and does take place. I enjoyed looking at each page before and after reading it to get the full effect.

One of the best things about this book is that I want to retell everything I learned. The problem is, that would just be retelling the book. I will of course bring up my new knowledge the first time it is relevant, but I will not recap what I learned here. If you haven’t read this book, then you should, because it really is enlightening. Of course there is more information than just the text itself. There is also a chronology and bibliography.