William Bradford: Plymouth's Faithful Pilgrim

by Gary D. Schmidt

Overview

Newbery Honor-winner Gary Schmidt tells the fascinating story of William Bradford, founder of Plymouth Colony.

Near starvation. Scurvy, tuberculosis, and pneumonia. Bitter cold. Daily deaths. This was the Pilgrims' first winter in Plymouth Colony. But thanks in large part to William Bradford, the colonists survived and went on to celebrate what we call Thanksgiving.

William Bradford came to the New World with the other Pilgrims in search of religious freedom. With great faith in God and in his own abilities, he established a stable colony, doing his best to be just and fair to his fellow colonists as well as to the Native Americans living in the area. After he became governor of the colony, he was reelected more than thirty times.

Filled with maps, paintings, and historical illustrations, this biography for young readers by Newbery Honor-winning author Gary Schmidt introduces readers to the dramatic story of the man who founded Plymouth Colony.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780802851482
Publisher:	Eerdmans, William B. Publishing Company
Publication date:	03/01/1999
Series:	Men of Spirit Series
Pages:	212
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)
Lexile:	1150L (what's this?)
Age Range:	10 - 18 Years

About the Author

Gary D. Schmidt is an English professor at Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan, and a prolific author of children's literature and young adult fiction. His books Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy and The Wednesday Wars each received a John Newbery Honor Award, and his Okay for Now has won a Children's Choice Book Award.

Editorial Reviews

"The book shows its research, and Schmidt takes the facts he has garnered and turns them into highly readable prose as he discusses the early history of the colony as well as Bradford's own story. . . A solid choice for biography collections." — Booklist

"This well-written biography of the Pilgrim leader will be a welcome addition to historic collections. . . Schmidt tells the story well, frequently quoting from the accounts of Bradford himself, as well as others." — School Library Journal

"Paying tribute to both the political skills and the deep spirituality of Plymouth Colony's guiding light, Schmidt paints a warm and cohesive picture of William Bradford's role in that colony's foundation and growth." — Kirkus Reviews

“Solidly written...compelling.” — Horn Book 

From the Publisher

This well-written biography of the Pilgrim leader will be a welcome addition to historic collections. . . . Schmidt tells the story well, frequently quoting from the accounts of Bradford himself, as well as others.

School Library Journal

Paying tribute to both the political skills and the deep spirituality of Plymouth Colony's guiding light, Schmidt (Sin Eater, 1996) paints a warm and cohesive picture of William Bradford's role in that colony's foundation and growth. Orphaned since childhood, Bradford joined the Puritan movement as a teenager, and gave up a fairly prosperous life to accompany local Separatists in their move to the Netherlands. Readers will get a clear sense of the courage it took to make that break, to defy both monarch and established church, and to later board a barely seaworthy ship for a dangerous voyage to an unknown land. Under Bradford's wise stewardship Plymouth went from a struggling settlement to a flourishing town, surviving deadly winters, suspicious local natives, successive waves of poorly supplied immigrants, fire, rival colonies competing for land and trade, even an earthquake. The author sifts Bradford's writings for clues to his character—noting such ambiguities as his near- silence at his first wife's sudden death—and points out Plymouth's enduring legacy to this country. (illustrations, not seen, notes, bibliography) (Biography. 11-15)

Kirkus Reviews