Eating the Plates: A Pilgrim Book of Food and Manners

by Lucille Recht Penner

Book Overview

Penner's Pilgrims are heroes, and deservedly so. She takes the story of their crossing on the Mayflower and establishment of Plymouth Colony, and fleshes it out with all the distasteful, even disgusting, details of their struggle for survival. Everything that made life difficult in the 1600s is mentioned--the acceptance of insect infestation in one's hair, clothing, bed, and food; the lack of efficient implements for home construction; the danger...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0689815417
• ISBN13: 9780689815416
• Release Date: September 1997
• Publisher: Aladdin Paperbacks
• Length: 117 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.9" x 9.1"
• Age Range: 7 to 10 years
• Grade Range: Grades 2 to 5

Customer Reviews

The Best Thanksgiving Pilgrim Mayflower History Book

I bought this book for homeschooling my 7 year old. Read half of it to her last night and didn't want to stop reading! (our eyes said otherwise.) I could read this to her in the same style as a fiction adventure book - the author did such a smooth wonderful job with her prose! I wish all history books were like this! This book is full of history and fun facts. It starts with why the Pilgrims wanted to go to the US, the hardships they faced, how they dealt with things (like bugs on food - eat in the dark), what they used, etc. The child is introduced to all the key terms (Pilgrims, Religion, Dutch, Mayflower, Mayflower Compact, Plymouth, etc.) and key people (Carver, Bradford, Squanto, Massasoit, (sp?) etc.) and is filled with ink drawings that supplement the child's own images. Although my daughter is a good listener, I did not expect her to be entralled with this book but she loved it! The book results in a lot of "cool" "ewwwww" and "i didn't know that" comments and easily leads to conversations comparing then and now.... Funny, I bought the book for fun to add to a cookbook collection and books on manners, restaurants, etc. (yes, there some cute recipes in the back) thinking I would only pick out some cute facts to share...very pleased and very surprised at the wealth of information in this book that is easily translated into a youngster's understanding in such a lively manner! Excellent and highly recommended for homeschoolers!!!!!!!!

Eating bugs for dinner!

I bought this from our public library this summer at one of their book fairs per a friends recommendation. I have not been dissapointed. My first grade daughter read a chapter every night and we brought "Pilgrim food" to her school when it was her turn for snack.There are recipes in the back of the book for you to try. You haven't lived until you have seen 1st graders try "Swizler- a drink the Pilgrims called "refreshing". Water, ginger, molassesa and vinegar. And yes, it tasted as vile as it sounds. However, the kids talked about it all week. My daughter's favorite chapter was one of the early ones which talked about the Pilgrims Mayflower voyage where they would sometimes eat in the dark so as not to see the bugs in their food! Captivating and a great information for all grade levels. And by the way the book got it's title because some of the Pilgrims would make their dinner plates out of bread (remember, they only had so much room to take things onto the Mayflower) and then eat them. Then they didn't have to do the dishes. Of course sometimes they would re-use them (no, they didn't wash bread plates, ugh!!!) and when they became too hard, would feed them to the pigs. BUY THIS ONE!!!

Ditch your "Biscuit's First Thanksgiving" for this.

This puts that first Thanksgiving meal in context: it's a fascinating story of the Pilgrims, their voyage to what would be Plymouth, MA, and the first hard years there. My five and six year olds sat rapt and silent for the whole thing, and it's a long book. Early American Pilgrim life was cold, buggy, stinky, and the kids had to keep wolves away from the precious planted corn hills, using a pile of rocks to defend themselves and the corn. Great, great book. I'm so sick of the usual twaddle: this one earns its stars.

Fascinating reading...

I couldn't put this book down until I was done. Although it was a mere 107 pages long, it was full of fascinating tidbits. My 3 children (ages 3 to 9) begged me to read more from the book as a reward for getting ready for bed in record time! This will be a book that will be in our collection from now on! Never before have I had such a healthy respect for the brave Pilgrims of Plymouth. Eating the Plates will add a special dimension to our study of the Pilgrims.

A real "taste" of Pilgrim life!

If you are a teacher, if you home school your children or even if you're just a mom like me that loves history and wants to share it with her children---Eating The Plates is a great place to get started. I loved this book! Young and old alike will learn what it might have actually been like to have come across the ocean on the Mayflower. I have shared it with children from kindergarten age through junior high(and I myself as well as other adults have enjoyed it). They were all held spellbound and came away having learned a great deal of respect for the people who settled our country and whom we often take for granted--the Pilgrims. They were real people with hopes and dreams! Lucille Recht Penner makes them and their struggles come alive. The recipes at the end of the book were especially fun to try. I highly recommend this book