Thanksgiving on Plymouth Plantation Book

I like how there were images of the types of food from thanksgiving then and now, and in both there was still an image of a hungry dog!
I've never heard of deer kabobs being at the first thanksgiving!
I was shocked to see the first page, because the cover led us to believe that this was a book about the first thanksgiving. I expected pilgrims and Indians. Not a modern family that visits their grandma, who reads them stories.
I also didn't like how it started off with what their grandma does, and says 'I'll bet your grandmother doesn't do that!' as if it's a competition, and putting down all other grandma's out there.
That looks like an oversized parrot standing in the doorway.
Wow, they know their ancestor's name who sailed on the Mayflower. That would be cool to know. I think the dog said 'that's nothing! I know a dog named Sparkplug.' Nobody responded, though.
They have to wear clothes from the time period they're visiting. How/where do you get clothes? How do you have enough for every time period?
What kind of name is 'Remember'?
I actually didn't know they didn't dress in black, with hats with buckles on them.
It was cute how they said they'd meet their forefathers, and foremothers, and the dog said 'foredogs.'
Plymouth Plantation was in Virginia. They considered NC up to Maine Virginia territory, and northern Virginia the called New England. I didn't know this!
The nearest settlement was Jamestown. So there were two settlements during the First Thanksgiving?
They called themselves planters, because they were planting a new colony. Later they were called Pilgrims, because they traveled due to their religion.
I don't like that it appears like they actually went back in time, and met the people there, like Governor Bradford. How did they know the name of the family, Allerton?
That was funny; 'And--ouch!--something just bit me!' 'Sorry, dear. Could be fleas. Could be lice.' 'You've got to be kidding!'
It said they escaped to Holland to practice their religion, but it was too hard to make a living there, so they came to the New World. I've never heard of that before, them going to Holland.
I didn't know there was another ship, called the Speedwell, that they traveled on, but because of leaks, people aboard that ship got on the Mayflower.
I've heard my grandma say 'sallet.' So that's how you spell that!! &it just means vegetables from the garden. They called leftovers 'relics.'
They picked Indian corn, but I didn't realize they had come into contact with the Indians yet.
At first when that man said they ran out of beer, but you can drink the water there because it's wholesome, and the grandma said the water was polluted, so beer was healthier, I was like oh no! they thought the water was safe. I didn't realize she was talking of England until I re-read it. so I was glad the water wasn't polluted there!
It was funny how the boy said 'Pilgrim kids drank beer for breakfast?'
It's nice how the author included things like them putting the fish in salt to preserve them through the winter. &how the Indian corn was colored, and not like the corn we know today. &pompions, which were pumpkins. I didn't know that!
I like the humor from the kids, and the lively way they're talking--about fleas and lice, and kids drinking beer. &'Yow! That's a lot of salt! Why are you doing that?' it's a lively way for kids to read, but it's also all informational.
They met Squanto--cool how that's in here--and it said he spoke English good because he lived in London, and was taken captive there as a boy. I didn't know it happened when he was a boy.
I knew about them planting fish with the crops, but I didn't know it was so the corn would have 'something to feed upon as it grows.' I thought it made the soil richer.
It's crazy how they didn't work on Sundays, but they worked on Christmas day. As Christians, didn't they celebrate Christmas then?
They called lunch 'dinner'.
They lined up to go to church, in military formation!? It said everyone was expected to go to church, even if they weren't members. Wasn't everyone in the New World Christian?
Some kids are named Love and Wrestling? What in the world!? A girl said it was short for Wrestling-with-the-Devil. What does that mean?
More humor: the dog saying 'I take it back. That definitely beats Sparkplug.'
&when they're in church, and the kid says "This doesn't look like a church--it looks more like a storeroom." "It is a storeroom. But the building isn't important. It is the people who are the church." "Children--hush!"
They called stews "pottages." And stuffed "puddings" into the turkey's bellies. Whoa!
Aw! Another humorous moment that tells us more about Plymouth. 'Johnny Billington told me how Squanto can "tread eels out of the mud," and I thought it sounded fun, so I tried it. Only he didn't say to take my shoes off first, and now they're totally ruined."
The dog looks cute while the kid holds him&he has a hat on.
So they did bring 90 Indians with them to the feast. I read that in another book, too. I lov the page with the Native Americans! With their face paint and feathers.
Massasoit wasn't actually his name, it was his title. His name was Ousamequin, which meant yellow feather.
Children and unmarried young people were expected to serve food and clear the dishes. That's what I'd be doing!
They ate on wooden plates called trenchers.
"What's the matter--don't you like your stewed eel?" "Umm…I think I'd rather have turkey."
If they haven't had a Thanksgiving, then how did Bartholomew know what Liz was talking about when she said they're at the first thanksgiving? He replies with 'it's a harvest festival, like the ones we had back in England. A Day of Thanksgiving is a religious holiday, when we spend the day in church.'
They played games like 'stool-ball' and 'pitching the bar.' &they raced and wrestled.
Funny how Liz said 'When Lenny and I do that at home, Mom gets mad.'
The men 'exercised their arms' by shooting their muskets. I like the poofs of smoke coming from the guns.
I don't like how it said Massasoit and his men thanked them for the party and left, but didn't have a picture of it. after a party like that, this was depressing: 'We took down the tables and washed the tablecloths, and everybody got back to life as usual.'
A ship appears, the Fortune, bringing more colonists to Plymouth. Did that happen?
They said they hated to say good-bye to Remember and Bartholomew especially. Idr them meeting Remember!! What did she look like??
Grandma puts the magic hat on, which sends them home.
I like how at the end the dad said "You should have come with us! It was great--a real New England experience!" and the boy says "That's okay, Dad. We had one of our own."
I like at the end how they were all using words and phrases from Plymouth!! "My favorite, Grandma--turkey with pudding in the belly!" "Pass the sallet herbs, please!" "If you two clean your trenchers, there's pompion pie for dessert." And the dad says "What on earth are you talking about?" &the mom asks her son "Lenny--where did you get those shoes?"
Omg, so it was real?! In the beginning, I thought it was just them imagining that they were there. Not that the magic hat was supposed to be real&that they actually met those people. It's cool, and yet I don't like it at the same time. I mean, it would be awesome to have went there, but then again, I don't like that they did.

It was sometimes hard to tell in what order people were speaking, because it was in dialogue boxes and sometimes I didn't know the order to read them in.
I think the dialogue boxes would be fun for kids to read. It's a more fun way to impart information about Plymouth, to put it in dialogue, instead of just plain text. Like when they're sleeping on the floor along with kids from Plymouth, and the kids are telling them how their ship leaked, and it's passengers got onto the Mayflower, and how they didn't arrive until November.
There was more text on the pages than I expected. I don't see young kids being able to keep up with this. this would be better suited to older kids.