Plimoth Plantation

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When young siblings Tracy and Greg, working on a Thanksgiving table setting, find themselves transported back in time to Plimouth Plantation, circa 1627, they naturally ask the pilgrims a few questions, such as why the settlement is called a plantation ("it's where we have planted ourselves") and why there are no forks for eating dinner (they're told that fingers are adequate to the task). Shot on location, Plimoth Plantation is one of three volumes in the Colonial Life for Children series (the others are Jamestown and St. Augustine) which immerse young viewers in the dress, daily habits and general social and political milieu of colonial life. Kids will learn that ovens were "common"--i.e., not plentiful, but "shared" by the community--and watch as bread is prepared for baking, listen to Governor Bradford explain the Mayflower Compact and describe the punishment of a pair of roughnecks who broke its rules, and discover that an earthen floor is not exactly conducive to pest-free living (lice were common). Prior to the Plimoth visit, the kids briefly tour a Native American settlement and see that not all Indians lived in teepees. While I had some trouble with the framing device (I'm not a big fan of setups that blithely break the laws of physics with no explanation whatsoever), the meat and potatoes, so to speak, of this introduction to colonial life offer solid educational nourishment. Recommended.

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Gr 3-7-The series presents history with a different slant than the usual documentary style video. These technically excellent videos provide students with some sense of what life was like at each of the three historical sites. All the videos open with a young student in the present day who is transported back to the colonial period to learn what life was really like at that place and time. Costumed reenactors with distinctive accents give a brief view of daily life in each village. The information in St. Augustine will probably be the most surprising to students because American history courses often don't even mention the Spanish settlements that predate the English ones at Jamestown and Plymouth. The coverage here is excellent. Viewers learn that the spice trade was necessary to make rancid foods palatable, and that the fort in St. Augustine was built to protect the settlement from the English. These videos provide a wealth of information on everyday colonial life from dress, to accents, to food and its preparation, to occupations, to the relationships with the Indians and other countries. Although the series is targeted at intermediate grades, these fine videos will find a place in many high school media centers because of their excellent presentation of cultural history.

Copyright 1998 School Library Journal. Used with permission.

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