Homes in the Wilderness

A Pilgrim's Journal of Plymouth Plantation in 1629 by William Bradford et al.

edited Margaret Wise Brown

"This handsome and simply written adaptation of the Pilgrim diaries . . . makes thrilling reading and has clear drawings and maps." – New York Times Sunday Book Review (4/10/88)

"An authentic account of the arrival of the Pilgrims in the New World in 1620. The book reveals their feelings about coming to America, describes their first encounter with Native Americans, and tells how they survived their first winter." – Creative Classroom (11/95)

"Teachers . . . could select passages for discussion or have students re-enact a period, chart the explorations on a contemporary map of Cape Cod, or keep a class journal. . . . Study could also focus on attitudes toward Indians or women." – Book Report (9/10/88)

The drama, adventure, and humor of day-to-day experience abound in this living history of what it felt like to come to America in the fall of 1620. The Mayflower’s passengers arrive in the New World, explore the Cape Cod shore for a place to build homes, tentatively encounter Native Americans for the first time, and thrill at the abundance of land. They struggle through their first long, hard winter and, by spring of 1621, build their settlement at Plymouth.

William Bradford and other members of the Mayflower Company tell their own story in this authentic journal. Edited and modernized just enough for contemporary readers, the language retains the vigor of the original King James English.

About the Editor

Margaret Wise Brown is the author of the best-selling Goodnight Moon, and over 100 other books for children. Her other Linnet Book is The Fish with the Deep Sea Smile: Stories and Poems for Reading to Young Children.

For other Linnet first-person historical narratives, click here.