Squanto's Journey: The Story of the First Thanksgiving

The book tells the story of the first Thanksgiving from the perspective of Squanto; I'm not a great student of history and so Iearned a lot that I didn't know from this primary-level book. I didn't know that there was a history of Europeans capturing the native population to take back to various

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European countries and sell as slaves. I didn't know that Squanto had been such a slave - I barely knew anything from the Native American perspective of this story.

I think in schools today they attempt to be more inclusive and honest about this information, but when I was in elementary school it was the pretty standard pilgrims escaping religious persecution and learning how to plant crops from the Indians story.

I'm really glad I read this book; I learned a lot and felt a lot of empathy for Squanto and the native people. I also really loved the artwork - there is a gorgeous, luminous quality to the paintings. Lovely.

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Squanto's Journey is based on the true story of a man of the Patuxet People. Although he was captured two different times, he managed to return to the land of his people. His help was very valuable to the English who had come to America. Squanto was able to express thanks always and remain a man of

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honor.

To remain thankful even in adverse circumstances has always helped me. I enjoy reading stories about people who remain honorable, even when dealing with people who are not.

As a classroom extension, I would read this book around Thanksgiving and have the students make the classic cornucopia. I would also have the students write a paragraph about things they are thankful for and why.

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I enjoyed reading this book. I learned some facts about Squanto that I did not know. This book tells the story of the first Thanksgiving. It is very engaging and has great pictures.

As Bruchac - a prolific children's author of Abenaki ancestry - notes in his afterword to this excellent picture-book, the Thanksgiving story is seldom told from the Native American perspective, and is usually marred by gross historical and cultural inaccuracies. That these untruths are spoon-fed

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to our children as part of our national mythology, makes them all-the-more harmful.

Squanto's Journey is an excellent corrective for some of the misinformation currently available, telling of the life story of Tisquantum (Squanto), a member of the Patuxet nation, whose role in befriending the English settlers of Plymouth would prove so fateful. Young readers will perhaps be surprised to learn that Squanto was kidnapped by an English captain, sold as a slave to the Spanish, and that, when he was finally able to return to his homeland, discovered most of his people had been killed by diseases brought to the Americas by European settlers.

Despite this horrifying history, Squanto believed in the possibilities of peace and friendship, and when the settlers at Plymouth needed his help, he gave it freely. This moving story of a true pniese, or man of honor, who never allowed suffering to embitter him, is matter-of-fact and realistic, without being brutal. Accompanied by Greg Shed's gorgeous gouache illustrations, Squanto's Journey should be required reading for anyone who thinks that being thankful requires forgetting the truth...

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A great book about the history of English Colonists having a feast with the Indians. The first Thanksgiving is what we Americans recognize it as. I like this book because of the history it teaches its readers and the friendship developed between two different worlds. From reading this book,

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children can learn that enemies can become friends if they take the time to set aside their differences and listen to one another. The colors that the illustrator used were of great choice. Looking at the pictures alone brings a mellow and warm feeling to the text.

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Squanto's Journey tells of the first Thanksgiving and how it all came about. We see how hard things was for the indians during this time as we follow the main character, Squanto, through all of his struggles. He endures through them to become a peacemaker between the pilgrims and indians. It's cool

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to see a story about the first Thanksgiving from the perspective of the indians. Most books seem to go be from the pilgrim's point of view which can dramatically change the story.

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1.) This book talks about when the Mayflower boat landed on the shores and Squanto was one of the first to welcome the people that were aboard. He welcomed the men and showed them how to survive using the land, and then with his people they gathered a huge feast with their newcomers, which resulted

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in a tradition that followed years and years later known as Thanksgiving. Hearing the story from a man who was kidnapped and forced to learn English when he was taken to Spain, when he returned to his land he was still someone that believed in helping others and remaining a loyal person. The story that many learned about Thanksgiving was not as sweet as told to us growing up, it shows a side from a man who encountered a lot and had to endure so much but still tried to be an honest man and help others.

2.) I had never heard of this book or heard of this man before which I found to be such a good read and nice illustrations as well. It is not for a very young audience but maybe kids around the age of nine and up because it does have quite a bit of text involved. It would be a really good read for older grade school kids so that they are able to really learn the history and this man who started this tradition with Thanksgiving and Pilgrims.

3.) This book is mostly for older kids so I think that a short essay on how they think Thanksgiving came about before they read the book and a short essay on what really took place after they read the book would be a great assignment. The before essay would be able to show how much kids know about the history about Thanksgiving and the after essay would be able to show how much a child actually learned from the essay and what they took from the book as well.

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Squanto recounts how in 1614 he was captured by the British, sold into slavery in Spain, and ultimately returned to the New World to become a guide and friend for the colonists.

The characters throughout the text give some of the book its prestigious value due to the realistic description of experiences, the use of round characters with a lot of details, and are unique and believable. The reader can easily identify with the characters and connect to their personalities,

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making it appropriate for second graders. This text is also appropriate for second graders because of the heavy content focus on America’s past communities and societies in Social Studies core content. Within the text there are both antagonists and protagonists within the story. Another literary element that gives the book its high quality is the style and language of the story. The word choice throughout the text allows the reader to truly feel like they are listening to the Native American Squanto. The vocabulary is non-repetitive, along with being age appropriate for a second-grade classroom. The language of the text gives the reader a clear visualization of both the setting and the characters.
I would utilize this text as a group text or a model text. The details in all the images allow the students to have a clear visual of what is occurring throughout the text, making it easier for students to study this text to improve their comprehension skills. The book provides many opportunities for group discussions and practice opportunities to interpret the character’s behaviors and actions and study the relationship between the Englishman and the Native Americans when they were first meeting one another.

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The story of Squanto (Tisquantum), a member of the Wampanoag people who was captured by the English and sold as a slave in Spain. Eventually he made it back to his home (in present day Massachusetts) and was present during the three-day feasting shared by members of the Wampanoag and English

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settlers in 1621 that eventually became part of the basis for the American mythology around Thanksgiving as a holiday. An important story nicely told and beautifully illustrated.

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