📖 The New Americans: Colonial Times by Betsy & Giulio Maestro. Book 3 of the American Story Series describes the settlement of the colonies, from 1620-1689. In trademark style, the Maestros offer plenty of historical detail and aesthetic appeal.​ – Elementary

🖐️ Colonial Days: Discover the Past with Fun Projects by David King. History and daily life are woven together in this activity book, which follows a fictional 1700s Massachusetts family through the seasons. Projects include making maple cream, dipping candles, making ink, and playing old-fashioned games. For another good activity book along these same lines, check out Laurie Carlson’s Colonial Kids. – Preschool • Elementary

📖 Roanoke: The Lost Colony by Jane Yolen and Heidi Elisabet Yolen Stemple. Yolen and Stemple give a condensed account of the Lost Colony in this highly readable entry in the Unsolved Mystery from History series. A section at the end of the book presents some prevalent theories on the fate of the Roanoke settlers and invites young history detectives to formulate their own ideas. Or see The Lost Colony of Roanoke by Jean Fritz for a more in-depth account. – Elementary • Middle

📖 1607: A New Look at Jamestown by Karen Lange. With beautiful photographs from historic Jamestown, this book describes how new archaeological evidence yields fresh insights into the difficult first years of the settlement. Lange also offers a clear-eyed look at Jamestown’s devastating impact on the native Powhatan. – Elementary • Middle

📖Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland by Sally Walker. Follow archaeologists as they excavate and interpret Colonial Era graves in this fascinating short chapter book. The informative text is enhanced by full-color photos; best for older students, particularly those with an interest in forensic anthropology and archaeology. – Middle • High

📖 John Smith Escapes Again by Rosalyn Schanzer. This entertaining biography of John Smith, leader of Jamestown, is organized around eleven tales of daring escape from almost certain death. While many of these exploits are so fantastical that they are almost surely exaggerated, it seems that Captain Smith was indeed a very accomplished escape artist. This is a neat little book, though you won’t find too much information on the Jamestown settlement itself. – Elementary

📖 Pocahontas and the Strangers by Clyde Robert Bulla. “Simple prose recaptures the life of Pocahontas focusing on her struggles to bring peace between her tribe and the English settlers … This biographical novel raises many questions not only about Pocahontas, but also about how the European presence in America so drastically altered the native way of life.” – Elementary

📖 A Lion to Guard Us by Clyde Robert Bulla. In this historical novel, three siblings set out from England to meet their father in Jamestown. A shipwreck aboard the Sea Venture leaves the kids stranded in Bermuda. Note that the this story is more about the journey than the Jamestown settlement. – Elementary • Middle

📖 Blood on the River: James Town, 1607 by Elisa Carbone. Experience the turbulent early years of the Jamestown settlement through the eyes of John Smith’s young page in this excellent historical novel. Highly recommended. – Middle

📖 The First Thanksgiving by Jean Craighead George. This terrific book gives a concise overview of the arrival of the Pilgrims in Plymouth, their relationship with the local tribes, and the first Thanksgiving. – Preschool • Elementary

📖 Plymouth books by Kate Waters. Kate Waters' 4-book series features photographs taken on board the Mayflower II and at historic Plimouth Plantation. In On the Mayflower, we make the historic crossing with the ship's apprentice, William Small. In Sarah Morton's Day, Samuel Eaton's Day, and Tapenum's Day, we follow the lives of a Pilgrim girl, a Pilgrim boy, and a Wampanoag boy in the early 1600s. – Preschool • Elementary

📖 Three Young Pilgrims by Cheryl Harness. Though this book emphasizes the hardships that the Pilgrims faced during their first year in Plymouth, it ends on a hopeful note with the celebration of the first Thanksgiving feast. – Elementary

📖 The Boy Who Fell off the Mayflower, or John Howland’s Good Fortune by PJ Lynch. This finely illustrated book tells the story of John Howland, a boy who sailed on the Mayflower as an indentured servant and who would become a distinguished member of the Plymouth settlement. It’s a great story of the early days of Plymouth, filled with plenty of accurate historical detail. Older elementary students will best appreciate this story. – Elementary

📖 Squanto's Journey: The Story of the First Thanksgiving by Joseph Bruchac. Here, Squanto tells his life story, from his capture by the Europeans to his return to his homeland and his time with the Pilgrims at Plymouth. – Elementary

📖 Mayflower 1620: A New Look at a Pilgrim Voyage by Plimouth Plantation. Featuring full-page photos taken aboard the replica ship, Mayflower II, this book is a wonderful resource for learning about the historic voyage. – Elementary • Middle

📖 Eating the Plates: A Pilgrim Book of Food and Manners by Lucille Recht Penner. Written in simple prose, this short chapter book gives an introduction to the Pilgrims, focusing mainly on their culinary habits. The book was originally published in 1991, and is a little dated in its treatment of the Wampanoags (for example, the incident of the Pilgrims pilfering the Wampanoags’ corn supplies is relayed without judgment). With that caveat, this book is a nice resource for this time period; recipes are included. – Elementary • Middle

📖 The Mayflower and the Pilgrims' New World by Nathaniel Philbrick. This young readers' adaptation of Nathaniel Philbrick's The Mayflower is still quite long and in-depth; the best resource for a high school student with a deep interest in the topic. The book begins with the Pilgrims' historic voyage and concludes with King Philip's War. – High

📖 Thunder from the Clear Sky by Marcia Sewall. Alternating chapters, narrated by a Wampanoag Indian and a Pilgrim, tell of the rising tensions between New England settlers and natives that will ultimately erupt in King Philip’s War. – Elementary

📺 The Pilgrims episode of American Experience (PBS). This excellent 2-hour episode examines the Pilgrims. It's a sophisticated analysis, most interesting for older children. Here's the description: "The challenges the Pilgrims faced in making new lives for themselves still resonate almost 400 years later: the tensions of faith and freedom in American society, the separation of Church and State, and cultural encounters resulting from immigration." Watch it on PBS or Amazon. – Middle • High

📖 The Salem Witch Trials: An Unsolved Mystery from History by Jane Yolen. The Salem Witch Trials were a puzzling episode in Colonial history. Yolen does a nice job of setting the scene, offering popular theories as to what really happened, and encouraging readers to come to their own conclusions. – Elementary • Middle

📖 Witches: The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem by Rosalyn Schanzer. Schanzer's award-winning Witches is a great choice for kids who want to read more about the Salem Witch Trials. Schanzer sets the scene nicely with a theatrical story structure and moody black, white, and red scratchboard illustrations. – Middle • High

📖 Struggle for a Continent: The French and Indian Wars by Betsy & Giulio Maestro. The French & Indian Wars generally get short shrift at the elementary level. Turn to this American Story book for all you need to know about the prolonged Colonial Era conflict. – Elementary

📖 The Matchlock Gun by Walter Edmonds. In this classic story of the French & Indian War period, first published in 1940, Edward and his family must protect their New York farm from the threat of Indian raiders. Be aware that the description of the Native Americans does reflect the era in which the book was written. – Elementary

📖 Ox-Cart Man by Donald Hall. In this classic picture book, a New England farmer packs up the goods that his family has made throughout the year and brings them to the marketplace in Portsmouth.​ – Preschool • Elementary

📖 Homespun Sarah by Verla Kay. You can identify a Verla Kay picture book by its simple four-line rhyming verses and charming illustrations. Thus begins Homespun Sarah, which describes a girl’s life in Colonial Pennsylvania: “Homespun Sarah, Braided head. Warm quilt, snuggle, Feather bed.” Also see Kay’s Tattered Sails, which tells of a family’s journey to the New World. Both books are just right for the very young. – Preschool • Elementary

📖 Our Colonial Year by Cheryl Harness. Take a tour through Colonial America over the course of a year. You will enjoy Harness’ sweet folk art, which captures daily life in the colonies along with hints of a growing revolutionary spirit. Very little text. – Preschool • Elementary

📖 The Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dalgliesh. Set in 1707, this is the story of an 8-year-old girl who travels with her father into the wilds of Connecticut to keep house for him while he builds a new home for the family and the fears she must confront in her new environment. The story is told with beauty and simplicity, and there are important messages about handling fear. The relationship between Sarah and the Native Americans does provide opportunities for discussion. A Newbery Honor Book. – Elementary

📖 The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare. Set in 1687, this excellent portrayal of Colonial life tells the story of Kit Tyler, a sixteen-year-old girl who is forced to leave her home on the island of Barbados to join a family she has never met in colonial Connecticut. Different from the colonists in almost every way, Tyler is met with suspicion and disapproval and struggles to survive and find her place in her new home. An unlikely friendship changes her fate. A Newbery Medal Book. – Elementary • Middle

📖 The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth Speare. "Matt is more than a little apprehensive when his father leaves him alone to guard their new cabin in the wilderness...When Matt meets Attean, a boy in the Beaver clan, he begins to better understand their way of life and their growing problem in adapting to the white man and the changing frontier." Newbery Honor Book and winner of the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction. – Elementary • Middle