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The Adventures of Plimoth PlantationAward-Winning Children’s Author Pens Delightful New Chapter Book in Honor of the Mayflower’s 400th Anniversary (1620-2020)

‘The Adventures of Plimoth Plantation: As Told By the Mayflower Mouse’ by Marian R. Carlson is a fresh and engaging retelling of the Mayflower’s voyage and the establishment of America’s Hometown

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Winner of a Parents’ Choice GOLD Award

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John Adams, The Voice Heard 'Round The World

 

John Adams: The Voice Heard ‘Round the World

“This is an important work! It’s a great story, I love it!”
Jean Fritz, award-winning children’s book author

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In Search of the Great American Writers

In Search of the Great American Writers: An Imaginary Journey Back in Time with Intrepid Reporter Nellie Bly.

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David McCullough & Hannah Carlson


Pulitzer Prize-winning author David McCullough narrates Boston Landmarks Orchestra recording, “John Adams: The Voice Heard ‘Round the World” CD accompanies richly-illustrated children’s book.

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American Genius: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The life story of Longfellow is full of drama, romance, and tragedy.

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Yankee Doodle's Pen

 

 

Yankee Doodle’s Pen: Wheatley, Washington, and Longfellow

Step back in time and discover what a slave, a general, and a poet have in common.

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Storybook characters for the Halloween parade

Where is the HALLOWEEN parade?
Where is the HALLOWEEN parade?

At our first back to school meeting in mid-September, teachers began preparing parents for Halloween. Their reason was to warn us of a new dimension to the popular school parade and party.

“We would like to correlate our traditional Halloween parade with a program objective for our school in reading and literature,” the principal suggested. “This idea is to use this event to help us raise pupil awareness of literature, and to encourage our students to read more books.”

For this year’s parade the pupil will select a character from a book of their choice as a costume in the parade. Teachers will help by providing tags with the name of the character, title, and author of the book, to be worn by parade participants.

How do 5 through 12-year old children react to having a special theme on a holiday ordinarily free of adult advice? After talking to over two dozen students, this writer found an enthusiastic response. Of course there is always the one who objects “I already planned to be a rock singer.”

Deciding is the hard part. Some children are thinking back on stories they’ve read and seeking out library books for illustrations of their favorite character such as Heidi or the evil witch from “The Wizard of Oz.”

Other children want to dress as a particular animal, so they’ve stopped by the school library for any stories including their four-legged friends. Biographies are giving inspiration to others.

Our fourth grader decided to portray the Wizard of Menlo Park, Thomas A. Edison, by wearing a white lab coat and pulling a wagon filled with a few of his major inventions. Perhaps we will see a few Washingtons, Lincolns, and Susan B. Anthonys.

The staff will not be uninvolved observers on Oct. 31. Teachers, individually or in small groups, are also researching their costumes. The principal says that he’s having a hard time deciding. While the Pied Piper of Hamelin is a distinct possibility, some might think Dracula would be more in character, he jests.

The spirit of Halloween will definitely not be dampened by this new idea. Even the children with hearts set on being a ghost or goblin are likely to find them in some book.

“When the first frost is on the pumpkin” and the leaves are turning brown, parents, friends, and neighbors will gather to watch a host of 400 storybook characters come alive and march to the tunes of John Philip Sousa. I can’t wait!

 

 

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