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Hester the Jester

HesterJester

Hester the Jester by Ben Shecter, 1977.

This cute picture book takes place in a Medieval kingdom.  Little Hester’s father is the court jester.  Then, Hester decides that she wants to be a jester, too.  At first, Hester’s parents tell her that she can’t because she’s a girl.  (If you’re thinking that you know where this story is headed, wait.)

One day, the king is so sad that Hester’s father can’t cheer him up, no matter what he does.  When Hester starts putting on her jester act for her father and makes him happy, he decides to go ahead and have her perform for the king.  Hester does cheer the king up, but that isn’t the end of the story.

Hester tells the king that she has discovered that she doesn’t like being a jester after all because it makes her feel too silly.  So, the king, now in a much better mood, asks her what she would like to do instead.

This starts a sequence where the king allows Hester to try out various roles and see if she likes them.  She tells him that she wants to be a knight because knights are important, but she ends up not liking that when she learns that knights have to go into battle.  Then, Hester decides that being a king is even more important, so the king decides to let her try it.  But, Hester isn’t good at giving other people wise advice, as the king does.

HesterJesterKnight

In the end, when Hester’s mother is sad and doesn’t know what to do now that her daughter has become a king, Hester decides that what she most wants to do is to go home and be her little girl again.

In a way, this book seems like two little stories in one.  First, there’s Hester proving that she can be a jester even though she’s a girl, and then, there’s Hester trying to decide what she really wants to be the most, now that the king is letting her try anything she wants.  What she decides that she wants most is to be herself and go home.

So, is this little book anti-feminist, saying that girls are better off just forgetting about the other stuff they might want and staying girls?  I don’t think so.  Basically, this is just a silly little story about a little girl, one too young to have a profession of any kind, who is allowed to see the realities behind some of the things she’s been wanting to try.  Some parts, she likes, and some she doesn’t.  But, she’s too young and inexperienced for all of them (and some, she will never want to try again because she’s learned that they’re not what she really wants after all), so she’s just going to be what she is: a little girl with plenty of time to grow up, who needs her mother and whose mother needs her.  All throughout the book, Hester speaks her mind about what she wants and is honest about the things she doesn’t like, admitting when she changes her mind.  As for what might happen when Hester grows up and finds something else she might want to do . . . who knows?  By then, she may be willing to try new things again.  But, she knows what she wants for now and has a little better idea of some things that she won’t want in the future.
The book is currently available online through Internet Archive.

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Medieval Holidays and Festivals

MedievalHolidays

Medieval Holidays and Festivals: A Calendar of Celebrations by Madeleine Pelner Cosman, 1981.

This book explains the holidays that people celebrated in Medieval times and how these holidays would have been celebrated, along with some special information about Medieval feasts.  The author also explains a little about how historians uncover and interpret information about people’s lives in the past.

MedievalHolidayProcession

Many of the holidays celebrated in Medieval times tended to be either religious in nature or having to do with the changing of seasons.

The holidays included in this book are listed by month:

MedievalHolidaysHorsesJanuary — Twelfth Night — An extension of Christmas (remember the Twelve Days of Christmas song?), Twelfth Night is also known as Epiphany — the night that the Three Wise Men supposedly visited baby Jesus after his birth.

February — St. Valentine’s Day

March — Easter

April — All Fool’s Day — Not just a day for pranks, but when everything is turned upside down and backwards, and people intentionally did the opposite of whatever they usually did in many ways.  Basically, a celebration of everything silly and ridiculous.

May — Mayday — A celebration of spring.

June — Midsummer Eve — A celebration of summer.

MedievalHolidayBishopJuly — St. Swithin’s Day — St. Swithin was a bishop of Winchester who had asked to be buried without great ceremony upon his death.  However, people later decided to give him a grand tomb.  When they tried to place his body in the tomb, it started raining heavily and didn’t stop until they moved the body to a new location.  They took the rain to be an expression of St. Swithin’s displeasure at the unwanted tomb.  From then on, this time of year was used to predict rainfall for the rest of summer.

August — Lammas Day — The word Lammas meant “Loaf Mass,” which was when there would be special blessings for bread and grain and thanks given for bountiful harvests.  The holiday was marked by the baking of a variety of special breads, including those in usual shapes, flavors, and colors.  Some of them could be very elaborate.

September — Michaelmas — The holiday celebrating St. Michael is oddly associated with three things that few people would associate with each other: gloves, geese, and ginger.  The glove was the symbol of the market of craftsmen held on Michaelmas.  Geese and foods flavored with ginger were popular dishes served at Michaelmas.

October — Halloween

November — Catherning, or St. Catherine’s Day — St. Catherine of Alexandria was learned noblewoman who was killed on a wheel (it was a bizarre and disgusting form of execution).  The holiday honoring her was associated with wheels, women (especially unmarried women and women students), and the professions which were associated with her such as lawyers, carpenters, spinners, lace makers.

December — Christmas

Each section in the book describes special traditions associated with each holiday, including games that would have been played and food that would have been eaten at that time.

In the back of the book, there is a section that explain decorations used for Medieval feasts, how to hold a Medieval-themed feast in modern times, and Medieval costumes. There is also a section of Medieval recipes.

MedievalHolidaysDestinyCakes

This book is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive.

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Changes for Felicity

American Girls

FelicityChanges

Changes for Felicity by Valerie Tripp, 1992.

FelicityChangesPennyThis is part of the Felicity, An American Girl series.

Everything is changing for Felicity. To begin with, her horse, Penny, is expecting a foal. Penny has been happy and healthy since she came to live with the Merrimans, but Felicity worries about what will happen when Jiggy Nye, her abusive former owner, gets out of prison. He has been in jail for not paying his debts. Felicity learns that he was once a respected member of the community and an expert with animals, but he became an alcoholic after his wife’s death. However, Felicity can’t bring herself to feel sorry for Nye after the way he’s behaved, even when she learns that he is sick. Felicity’s friend, Elizabeth, convinces her that they should send him some medicine and other supplies in prison, partly to have pity on him and partly so that he will feel grateful to Felicity when he gets out and not make trouble for her.

FelicityChangesGrandfatherSickUnfortunately, Elizabeth’s father also soon ends up in prison. Tensions between Patriots and Loyalists are high. The former governor has fled Williamsburg, and Patriots are arresting Loyalists. That Mr. Cole is a Loyalist has been well-known for some time. Felicity fears for Elizabeth and wonders what will happen to their friendship.

Then, Felicity’s grandfather also becomes ill. He soon dies of his illness, devastating her family, but before his death, he takes steps to make things better for Elizabeth’s family, Jiggy Nye, and his own family, especially Felicity. In return for Felicity’s charitable gift and her grandfather’s honorable payment for the horse, Jiggy Nye also helps Felicity and Penny when they need him the most, redeeming himself in everyone’s eyes.

FelicityChangesMotherWith the war everyone has dreaded finally becoming reality, there are still more changes yet to come. Elizabeth’s father must leave Williamsburg, Felicity’s father decides how he will support the war effort, and Felicity begins to play more of a role in the running of her father’s shop, as she had wished to do before.

In the midst of Felicity’s grief over her grandfather’s death and worries about the coming changes in all of their lives, her mother has some poignant thoughts about the nature of death and change. While Felicity wishes that it were summer again, back when her grandfather was alive and they were all happy, her mother says that not all changes are bad ones. As she points out to Felicity, even though it might be tempting for her to wish that she were a child again herself, when both of her parents were still alive, to go back to that time would mean giving up her life with her husband and her children. She loves her children and enjoys seeing them grow up and change.  The ability to witness those happy changes is worth dealing with the less happy changes in life as well.  Death, like change, is just another part of life, and Felicity’s mother points out that love still connects us to those we’ve lost.  Like everyone else, the only way Felicity can move in her life is forward, and that’s a good thing. Felicity still has growing up to do and happier changes yet to come.

In the back of the book, there is a section of historical information about the Revolutionary War.

The book is currently available online through Internet Archive.

Posted on by TracyC

Felicity’s Surprise

American Girls

FelicityChristmas

Felicity’s Surprise by Valerie Tripp, 1991.

FelicityChristmasBenProtestThis is part of the Felicity, An American Girl series.

Christmas is coming, and Felicity is excited. She and Miss Manderly’s other students, Elizabeth Cole and her older sister, Annabelle, have all been invited to the Christmas party at the Governor’s palace! Miss Manderly is a friend of the dancing master who has been giving the governor’s children dancing lessons, so she was able to get invitations for her students. There will be a special dance lesson for all the children who come. With food, music, and dancing at the party, Felicity and Elizabeth are looking forward to dressing up like grown-up ladies going to a ball.

However, Ben, her father’s apprentice is against the idea of Felicity going because the Governor sides with the King and the Loyalists against the Patriots. He can’t understand why Felicity would want to attend a party with people who have treated the colonists so badly and have even boycotted her father’s store because he refuses to sell the taxed tea. However, Felicity’s father understands that the invitation was meant kindly and that it would be a special event for Felicity, so he tells her that she can go if she likes. Christmas should be a time for peace and enjoyment.

FelicityChristmasMotherIllAt Miss Manderly’s the girls start having dancing lessons, and Felicity wishes for a new gown, like the one on the elegant doll at the milliner’s shop. Since Felicity is usually not very interested in clothes, her mother decides to grant her wish.

When Felicity’s mother falls ill, not only do Felicity’s Christmas dreams seem dashed, but she worries about whether her mother will recover from her illness. Everything that Felicity was concerned about before, the dress, the dancing, the party, all suddenly seems unimportant and silly in the face of something more serious. However, miracles come to those who work for them, and Felicity receives some unexpected help from friends.

There is a section in the back with historical information about how Christmas was celebrated in Colonial America.

The book is currently available online through Internet Archive.

Posted on by TracyC

Happy Birthday, Felicity!

American Girls

FelicityBirthday

Happy Birthday, Felicity! by Valerie Tripp, 1992.

FelicityBirthdayGuitarThis is part of the Felicity, An American Girl series.

It’s Felicity’s birthday, and her grandfather has given her a very special present: a guitar that once belonged to her grandmother, who is now dead. Felicity’s grandfather has heard Felicity singing and thinks that she shares her grandmother’s gift for music. He also thinks that Felicity is old enough to take proper care of the instrument, stressing the need for her to be responsible with it. Her mother tells her that she should keep the guitar safely in the parlor since she isn’t quite old enough for proper music lessons, like the ones Miss Manderly is giving Elizabeth’s older sister, Annabelle. Annabelle has been getting on Elizabeth and Felicity’s nerves by bragging about how they are still to young to even hold her guitar, although Annabelle really has no musical talent and struggles in her lessons.

Although Felicity knows that she should leave the guitar at home, she can’t resist taking it to Miss Manderly’s so that Miss Manderly can tune it for her and so that she can show it off to Elizabeth and Annabelle. Miss Manderly does tune the guitar for her and compliments her on owning such a fine instrument.

FelicityBirthdayGunpowderHowever, on the way home, something frightening happens. Felicity sees Elizabeth’s father, a known Loyalist, talking to a British soldier. She ducks into a bush so they won’t see her, and she hears them talking about the governor removing the gunpowder from the Williamsburg arsenal so the colonists can’t use it in the rebellion that has been threatening to come for some time.

Felicity hurries home to tell her family what she has heard, but when her mother and grandfather see that she has taken the guitar out of the house and gotten it wet and dirty while she was hiding, they refuse to listen to her. Her grandfather, also a Loyalist, particularly thinks that she’s making up stories to cover her irresponsibility about the guitar.

But, Felicity knows what she heard, and the situation is serious. What can she do to prove it to everyone?

In the back of the book, there is a section with historical information about how children were raised in Colonial America.  Another good book on the same topic is Going to School in 1776.

The book is currently available online through Internet Archive.

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The Little Indian Basket Maker

BasketMaker

The Little Indian Basket Maker by Ann Nolan Clark and illustrated by Harrison Begay, 1957.

By “Indian,” the author means Native American.  This book specifically focuses on the  Papago (Tohono O’odam) who live in the Southwestern United States, specifically Arizona.  The story is about a young girl who is starting to learn the traditional art of basket-making, and the book goes into the process involved in making baskets, step by step.   Although the use of “Indian” instead of Native American is somewhat antiquated, and Tohono O’odam is really the proper name for the Papago people, the book has something of an interesting history and the picture it provides of the practice of traditional crafts is fascinating. There is a section at the beginning of the book which explains a little about the history of the Papago (Tohono O’odam) people and where they live.

BasketMakerGrandmother

A young girl explains how her grandmother teaches her the traditional craft of making baskets.  They start by gathering the types of plants that they are going to use.

BasketMakerPlants.jpg

They also need special plants for the dye they will need in order to decorate the baskets.  The girl’s grandmother explains about the different types of decorations they traditionally use.

BasketMakerDesigns

Making baskets is a long process that includes cleaning the plants and tearing them into long strips, bleaching them, soaking them to soften them, dyeing strips used in the design, and weaving them together.

BasketMakerSoftening

The girl weaves a mat that takes days to finish.  It is the first one that she’s made herself.

BasketMakerWeaving

She is very proud of herself when the mat is finished, and she is pleased with the quality of her work.

BasketMakerFinishing

I’ve owned this book since I was a young child, and it was my introduction to traditional crafts.  Later, I found a related book at a thrift store, The Little Indian Pottery Maker.  Until then, I hadn’t realized then just how old the books were and that there were more of them by the same author.

The book, which was written in the 1950s, was one of a group of stories (not exactly a series because they didn’t have a specific set of characters in common and the themes varied somewhat) written by a woman who was a teacher with the United States Indian Service.  The other books that she wrote, including The Little Indian Pottery Maker, focus on members of different Native American tribes.  She was not Native American herself, and the modern view of Indian schools is not favorable (for good reasons), so one might be a little suspicious of a book written about Native Americans by an Indian school teacher. However, these books interest me because of their explanation of traditional crafts. There are no white people in the stories at all, and they have a timeless quality to them.  Reading them, it’s hard to get a sense of exactly when the stories take place because it’s never mentioned, and there aren’t many clues (no mentions of modern technology, it’s all about the crafts).  I haven’t found any of the other books that the author wrote, but these two are very respectful in their tone, and they begin with explanations of the history of the tribes involved in the stories.  According to Andie Peterson in A Second Look: Native Americans in Children’s Books, the author was deliberately trying to write books that her Native American students could relate to.

The art style of the books vary because they had different illustrators.  The illustrator for this particular book was a Navajo painter.

The book is available to read for free online through Internet Archive.

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The Little Indian Pottery Maker

PotteryMaker

The Little Indian Pottery Maker by Ann Nolan Clark and illustrated by Don Perceval, 1955.

By “Indian,” the author means Native American.  This book specifically focuses on the Pueblo Indians who live in the Southwestern United States, specifically New Mexico and Arizona.  The story is about a young girl who is starting to learn the traditional art of pottery-making, and the book goes into the process involved in making pottery, step by step.   Although the use of “Indian” instead of Native American is somewhat anitquated, the book has something of an interesting history and the picture it provides of the practice of traditional crafts is fascinating. The beginning of the book explains a little about Pueblo Indians, their history, and where they live.

PotteryMakerGettingClay

The young girl tells the story of how her mother introduces her to the traditional craft of making pottery and teaches her how to make her first pot.  She describes every step in the process, from when they collect the clay themselves from a hillside until the pot is finally complete.

PotteryMakerMixingClay

The girl’s mother explains about the different methods used to make pots, and pictures show how pots are shaped.

PotteryMakerRollingClay
PotteryMakerMakingPots

Making pottery is a long process that takes days to complete, including shaping, scraping and smoothing the sides, drying, decorating, and finally firing the pottery.  The girl is proud of the first pot she has ever made.

PotteryMakerFiringPots

I found this book at a thrift store a number of years ago and recognized it because I already owned a related book, The Little Indian Basket Maker, that I liked when I was a young child.  I hadn’t realized then just how old the books were and that there were more of them by the same author.

The book, which was written in the mid-1950s, was one of a group of stories (not exactly a series because they didn’t have a specific set of characters in common and the themes varied somewhat) written by a woman who was a teacher with the United States Indian Service.  The other books that she wrote, including The Little Indian Basket Maker, focus on members of different Native American tribes.  She was not Native American herself, and the modern view of Indian schools is not favorable (for good reasons), so one might be a little suspicious of a book written about Native Americans by an Indian school teacher. However, these books interest me because of their explanation of traditional crafts. There are no white people in the stories at all, and they have a timeless quality to them.  Reading them, it’s hard to get a sense of exactly when the stories take place because it’s never mentioned, and there aren’t many clues (no mentions of modern technology, it’s all about the crafts).  I haven’t found any of the other books that the author wrote, but these two are very respectful in their tone, and they begin with explanations of the history of the tribes involved in the stories.  According to Andie Peterson in A Second Look: Native Americans in Children’s Books, the author was deliberately trying to write books that her Native American students could relate to.

The art style of the books vary because they had different illustrators.  The illustrator for this particular book was not Native American (unlike some of the illustrators of other books), but he was adopted into a Hopi tribe, apparently as an adult because of his accomplishments in representing Hopi culture in art.

Posted on by TracyC · 1 Comment

Giving Thanks

GivingThanks

Giving Thanks by Kate Waters, 2001.

This book describes the feast of 1621 that we think of as “the first Thanksgiving” from the point of view of two boys: Resolved White (a six-year-old English colonist) and Dancing Moccasins (a fourteen-year-old Wampanoag).  The book explains that the reality of this feast is somewhat different from the way many people think of it.  For one thing, the exact date is unknown, and it wasn’t really a single meal but a kind of harvest celebration that took place over several days.  The events of that celebration were re-created using reenactors from the Plimoth Plantation living history museum.

In the beginning of the book, Dancing Moccasins explains that his family has been harvesting their crops and preparing to move to the place where they live in the winter. Wampanoag lived in different places depending on the time of year, moving between them when the seasons changed.  At their winter home, they would continue hunting and fishing, returning to the place where they planted their crops at the end of winter.

GivingThanksBeginning

Similarly, Resolved’s family has finished harvesting their crops and have stored up food for the winter.  Now that most of the hard work is over, they have time to relax and celebrate.  The community is planning a feast.  Resolved and his friend, Bartle, follow some of the men, who are going out hunting and target-shooting.

The colonists meet up with some of the Wampanoag, which is how Dancing Moccasins and Resolved first see each other.  Dancing Moccasins returns home and tells his father what he has seen.  Then, a messenger arrives from their chief, Massasoit, saying that he will be visiting the colonists soon, and Dancing Moccasins’s father is invited to come.

GivingThanksMessenger

Just as Dancing Moccasins is wondering about the purpose of this visit, Resolved is wondering the same thing because word has reached the colonists that they will soon be visited by the chief and representatives of the tribe.  (The book explains in the back that the exact reasons for the Wampanoag visit to the colonists are unknown today, only that it happened at the same time that the colonists were planning their harvest feast.) The two boys meet again when Dancing Moccasins accompanies his father on the visit to the colonists’ village.

GivingThanksGovernorDinner

When the Wampanoag arrive at the village, they are treated as honored guests, and some of the Wampanoag go deer-hunting to provide a present for their hosts.  The chief dines with the governor of the colonists.  The Wampanoag build shelters for themselves, where they will stay during their visit.

GivingThanksShelters

Eventually, Dancing Moccassins invites Resolved to play a game with him and some other Wampanoag boys when he sees him watching them.  Some of the Wampanoag men also join in the games that the English men play, like competing to see who can throw a log the farthest.

GivingThanksGames

At the end of the day, Dancing Moccassins and Resolved each eat with their own families, but there is plenty for everyone.

There is a section in the back with historical information about the harvest feast, traditions about giving thanks among both the colonists and the Wampanoag, and how Thanksgiving eventually became a national holiday in the United States.  There is also information about food and clothing in the time of the story and a recipe for samp (a kind of corn pottage eaten by the Wampanoag and later adopted by the English colonists).  The book also has some information about the Plimoth Plantation living history museum and the reeanctors.  It is part of a series of books by the same author about the lives of children in Colonial America.

The book is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive.

Posted on by TracyC

Samuel Eaton’s Day

Samuel Eaton's Day

Samuel Eaton’s Day: A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Boy by Kate Waters, 1993.

This is the story of a boy who traveled to America from England on the Mayflower and whose family lived in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The book focuses particularly on how a boy like Samuel would have helped with a harvest during the year 1627.  The role of Samuel in the book is played by a boy who is one of the reenactors at the Plimoth Plantation living history museum.

Samuel’s mother died when he was a baby, but his father remarried, and he now has a stepmother (whom he calls “Mam”) and a younger half-sister, Rachel.  Now that Samuel is seven years old, he is considered old enough to help the men bring in the rye harvest.  Samuel is eager to help because he wants to prove that he is no longer just a little boy and that he is capable of doing a man’s work.

The book begins with Samuel waking up and getting dressed in the morning.  He has a few routine chores to perform, such as getting water, gathering firewood, and checking a snare that he has set for catching wild game, before he and his father go to the fields to help with the harvest.  After breakfast, Samuel and his father meet up with a neighbor, Robert Bartlett, and go to the fields with the other men.

SamuelEatonBinding

Robert Bartlett tells Samuel that it will take a few days for them to complete the harvest.  Samuel isn’t considered old enough to wield a sickle by himself, so he is given the task of gathering up the rye that his father and Bartlett cut and binding it into sheaves.  It’s hard work, and at times, Samuel wonders if he’s really up to the task.  When his Mam comes with lunch, she gives Samuel the chance to come home with her, if he is too tired, but Samuel is determined to stay and finish out the day.

SamuelEatonLunch

At the end of the day, Samuel is very tired and has blisters, but he is proud of the work he has done, and the men congratulate him.

The end of the book has a section that explains a little about the real Samuel Eaton, who eventually had his own farm when he grew up, and the boy who reenacted his life, Roger Burns.  There is also information about the clothing of the period, the Wampanoag people (seen briefly when Samuel is helping to gather mussels for the family’s dinner), the rye harvest, and the Plimoth Plantation living history museum.  The book also provides the lyrics to the song that Samuel and the others sing to entertain themselves while they’re working in the fields, The Marriage of the Frog and the Mouse.

Sarah Morton, a girl who was featured in an earlier book in the series, also appears briefly in this book.

The book is currently available online through Internet Archive.

SamuelEatonSarah

Posted on by TracyC

Tapenum’s Day

Tapenum's Day

Tapenum’s Day by Kate Waters, 1996.

This is about a day in the life of a Wampanoag boy living in the area around Plymouth, Massachusetts during the 1620s.  His life is reenacted by Issac Hendricks, who was a participant in the Wampanoag Indian Program at the Plimoth Plantation living history museum.

In the beginning, Tapenum introduces himself, explaining a little about his people and the strangers who have only recently come to their land, the English colonists, whom the Wampanoag call wautaconuoag (meaning “coat-men”).  Tapenum has just learned that he was not among those young men chosen to train as pniesog, a special kind of warrior among the Wampanoag who also possessed spiritual powers and acted as advisors and diplomats for their chief.  It has come as a great disappointment to him that he was not chosen for training.  To improve his chances of being chosen later, Tapenum has decided to train himself to improve his strength and hunting abilities.

Tapenum's Day Begins

Tapenum goes out hunting early in the morning, while his mother and sister are still asleep.  He starts before eating anything because he says that being hungry “makes the hunter more serious.”  Eventually, he catches a rabbit and a squirrel.  His mother is pleased with his catch, although his father has done even better by bringing home a wild turkey, which is even more difficult.

Tapenum's Day Hunting Trip

Later, Tapenum meets up with a friend, Nootimis.  The two of them go fishing in a canoe.  Nootimis knows that Tapenum is disappointed about not being chosen, but Tapenum says that at least he can still spend time with him before (hopefully) going away for training next year.

Tapenum's Friend

After fishing, Tapenum goes for a run as part of his training, and he sees smoke.  When he investigates, he finds an old wise man named Waban making a canoe.  Waban was a pniese himself when he was younger, and Tapenum offers him the fish he caught, hoping that Waban can tell him some things that will help him to be chosen for training.

Tapenum meets Waban

Tapenum ends up spending the rest of the day with the older man, learning and perfecting his skill at fletching arrows.  Waban also explains to him the importance of patience.  Tapenum is in too much of a hurry to grow up and begin serious training, but growing up takes time and so does developing the kind of strength and wisdom that he will need as warrior.

Tapenum learns some lessons

There is a section in the back of the book that explains more about the Wampanoag people, the the Wampanoag Indian Program, the Plimoth Plantation living history museum (now called Plimoth Patuxet), and the boy reenacting Tapenum’s life.

This is part of a series of books focusing on the lives of children in Colonial American history.  It is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive.