The New Americans: Colonial Times: 1620-1689 – An Educational Picture Book about European Settlers for Children (Ages 6-10) (The American Story Series, 3)

For most school children, American Colonial history starts with the founding of Plymouth in 1620 and then fast forwards to 1775 and the beginning of the American Revolution. That is 155 years of important American history that is usually ignored. Fortunately, Betsy Maestro covers this formative period in two books, "The New Americans" and "Struggle for a Continent: The French and Indian Wars". Betsy Maestro is a very clear writer and tells what could be a complicated story in a manner appropriate for young children. In addition, she is as "unbiased" as you could hope for in a book like this. The only downside with this book are the illustrations. I found Giulio Maestro's illustrations to be amateurish and out of scale. But having said that, my nine year old son was fine with Maestro's illustrations. Betsy Maestro's "The American Story" series is really well written. I will be purchasing all of the books in the series. This series does a great job of introducing American history to young children in a throughtful and measured manner. My sense is that in time, this series will become a classic of children's historical non-fiction. Highly recommended.

I am astounded by how much I love this book. The entire series is phenomenal. Hats off firstly to the artwork. A majority of the images are 18th-century paintings redone in colored pencil to appeal to kids. Secondly, The narrative is slightly encyclopedic in nature but that makes it that much more informative. Long term I know my kids will love it but right now as I read/look with younger kids it is very easy to tell the story of each page. Love the authentic history told through wonderful artwork.

Overall, great read. Yes, it was a picture book--But do not let that mislead you when purchasing. It has very rich detailed recounts of US History during Colonial era. My 6 year old and 11 year old both enjoyed this. I loved so much about this book that I couldn't give it less than 5 stars. But if I am being brutally honest, I would give it more like 4.5. The reason is this: It does seem to drag on a bit with the conflicts portion. I'm not saying it isn't relevant History. It just sort of became hard for the kids to track all of the different groups at odds and for what purposes. It would have been an easier read if there were maybe 2 or 3 pages dedicated to summarizing some of these conflicts rather than pages and pages discussing individual feuds, battles, massacres, etc between the various religious groups, Native American tribes, the Spanish, the French, the British, the Dutch, the Colonists... Even here I believe I am missing some. We ended up reading about half, skimming about a dozen pages, and then catching the last couple pages so that I wouldn't lose the kids with all the groups at odds with who and at what time and why. Maybe we'll pick it back up again down the road and be able to connect more dots.

Arrived in very good condition as stated and days earlier than expected. Well done!

Excellent illustrations on each page and very good maps. Provides a concise story of the first settlers in North America and how the different European countries battled for control of this new continent.

I bought this book for the Wolf Scout - Duty to God Adventure requirement: Read a story about people or groups of people who came to America to enjoy religious freedom. The book was fairly long, so I only read a section of it to my scouts at our den meeting, but it was very informative and age appropriate for wolf scouts (7-8 years old). They enjoyed it and asked for me to read more of it.

In depth, but not too difficult for my 4th grader. Comprehensive as well. A great bridge between the Pilgrims (included as well) and the Revolution.

Love these books. Perfect for elementary school. You can use all or parts to cover lessons on US and VA History!