DAILY LIFE IN THE PILGRIM COLONY 1636

Beginning with general information about the Pilgrims, the Plymouth colony, and the New World and Native Americans, this latest in the Daily Life series quickly focuses on the Prentis family, farmers who live near the town of Plymouth. This emphasis on individuals allows readers to identify with the characters and enter more fully into the Pilgrim lifestyle. Covering such topics as clothing, cooking, government, religion, health and medicine, and the different work of women, men, and children, each two-page spread gives detailed information about daily life. Dry at times, the text works best on those pages that are divided into various subtopics. Readers are sometimes left wondering if the Prentises truly exemplify the average Pilgrim family. For example, Rebecca Prentis is a widow with two children who remarried. There is no sense of whether this was a common occurrence, or whether it was widely accepted in the town. Also, aside from a page in the general introduction and very brief mentions of trade and defense, Native Americans are largely left out of the book. Did the Native Americans have any impact on the lives of the Pilgrims? Wonderful full-color photographs of reproductions and reenactments, as well as black-and-white sketches and maps, support the text. All are well captioned. While the watercolor illustrations of the Prentis family are rather wooden-looking, they do help readers put a face with a name, and the responsibilities associated with each person. Erickson’s text is a good reference and an interesting read, but this should not be the sole source of information on Pilgrim life and the Plymouth colony. (index, glossary, timeline) (Nonfiction. 10-14)