England Week - The Plague

Finding Nell of Branford Hall was like finding a little jewel. First and foremost, with no draggy parts nor dull characters, it was a pleasure to read. Then I was impressed with how it sprinkled in just a snippet of the Glorious Revolution, the Royal Society and other English history. But of course, the main course here is the plague...

It started with rumors that the dreaded disease was in Amsterdam and would get to England eventually. By the time Nell makes her first visit to London the plague has arrived. While there she has a major transportation problem. Her carriage wheel breaks and when she and an escort go in search of a hackney coach to hire they discover they are in the most disease ridden area of the city. Oh, the sites she sees! Ghastly. With great relief she finally returns to Branford Hall. But alas, the plague arrives in her beloved Branford Village. The villagers concoct a plan to deal with the plague. But will Nell’s dearest friend, Kate, survive?

The one oddity to me is that Nell’s uncle, a doctor, knows with certainty that the disease is spread by fleas. I believe this wasn't figured out until after the fact. But I'll say this, young readers will never again think of the plague without thinking of fleas.

Ages 10 and up
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Activity: Play medieval doctor. Try to diagnose and cure three patients. Read about their symptoms and then decide what treatment to prescribe.

BEACH WEEK - Captain Kidd

TITLE:  Captain Kidd: Seventeenth-Century Pirate of the Indian Ocean and African Coast

AUTHOR: Aileen Weintraub

WHO WAS AT THE BEACH? Captain Kidd, a privateer turned pirate.

WHAT BEACH AND WHEN? On his way to New York City in 1699 to see his wife and daughters after three years at sea, Captain Kidd purportedly stopped at Gardiners Island on Long Island, New York to bury his treasure.

WHAT HAPPENED? Raised by a Presbyterian minister in Scotland, Kidd was hired in 1689 by the British to plunder enemy ships (especially those belonging to those dang French!) On one voyage his full crew was working under the “No Purchase, No Pay” agreement. This meant that if they didn't capture a ship, the crew wouldn't get paid. Ships to plunder were scarce, Kidd chickened out of capturing a couple they sailed near, the crew was getting restless to say the least, and then, out of desperation, Kidd attacked a (gasp) British ship. His badness pretty much spiraled out of control after that, and he willy nilly attacked ship after ship. He knew he was branded a pirate when he buried that treasure on Long Island, and hoped that he could use it as a bargaining chip in negotiations to avoid punishment. But, alas, he was hung in London in 1701 where his body was on display for years (geez!), and as for his treasure? It remains a mystery.

Ages 9 to 12
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You also might like this DVD produced by the History Channel, Investigating History - Captain Kidd.

Activity: Bury a treasure for your kids to find. Purchase a treasure chest from a craft store, shell shop or import store. Fill it with colored stones, costume jewelry, old or foreign coins, marbles, shells, sea glass and skeleton keys. Bury it and then use brown ink to draw a map to it on this old piece of paper you can print out. The paper is made available by http://ayelie-stock.deviantart.com/art. Once they have practice finding your buried treasure, then maybe they can tackle finding Captain Kidd's!

Eye Witness to History

The Roman philosopher Seneca wrote of his day at the Coliseum watching the Gladiators. Pliny the Younger recalled in a letter how he barely survived the Pompeii disaster of 79AD. Sadie Frowne told of immigrating to America from Poland and Lady Bird Johnson recorded her memories of the day JFK was shot. All these juicy tidbits from history have been collected at an amazingly well organized site, www.eyewitnesstohistory.com.

Browse fascinating written eyewitness accounts from the making of a mummy to Nixon leaving the Whitehouse. But there are also recorded voices, fascinating photos and amazing videos available too.

Warning...addictive browsing. Very bookmark worthy.

Ages 9 and up
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Remember the Ladies

Betsy Ross, Harriet Tubman and Annie Oakley are among the 100 American women highlighted in Remember the Ladies: 100 Great American Women. This attractive collection of movers and shakers of the female persuasion also contains unfamiliar names that Shannon and I would like to research further. Women like Sylvia Earle, who walked untethered on the ocean floor, further down than any other human at 1,250 feet! And Sybil Ludington, who at sixteen rode her horse through the night during the Revolutionary War to warn that the British were attacking Connecticut. “I had NO idea that women did that!” was Shannon’s reaction.

We enjoyed reading this, and together discovering just what women are capable of. The illustrations are wonderful. The chronological order is well handled, with each spread dedicated to a designated time period from the New World to Turn of the Millennium. I question some of the author's choices, like Martha Stewart, who, granted, built an empire, yet she excluded Mary Kay Ash, who built an empire that provided so many other women an opportunity to succeed.

Warning: In the sixties area of the book the birth control pill and abortion are brought up. My daughter is ten and at first I was a little uncomfortable discussing these topics with her. But it did lead us to a great mother/daughter talk on pro-life and pro-choice views.

Ages 9-12
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Pilgrim Cat

Cat lovers will relish Pilgrim Cat. It offers a look at sailing to and settling in a new land from a cat's perspective. It starts when a stray mouser boards the Mayflower and befriends fellow passenger Faith Barret. She names the feline Pounce. Together they experience a new world that includes howling wolves, a tribe of Wampanoags and rows of corn. Then one day Pounce disappears. Faith is distraught, but a happy ending is in store when Pounce is discovered -by Squanto no less- and surprise! He is a she with a litter of kittens. The kittens grow and are present at the first Thanksgiving. Very engaging story and pictures. A sure child pleaser with lots of well researched Pilgrim information.

Ages 4-9
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Activity: Color the Mayflower.

FREE FRIDAY! —butter churning clip art—

For this free butter churning clip art click here.

Sir Isaac Newton

Knowing that Ryan had to do a report on Isaac Newton for science class I grabbed this book, Isaac Newton: Giants of Science, while at the library. It happened to be in the car when we were on a 75 mile trek (one way!) to a soccer match so I opened it up and started reading it aloud. Katherine Krull had us hooked right from her first sentence, “Grim is a fitting description for Isaac Newton’s childhood.” After I finished the first chapter about his dismal upbringing the kids and my husband exclaimed, “read another chapter!” Krull has a gift for breathing life into this biography by weaving together nuances of a seventeenth century existence with details from Newton’s life. It flows like a hard to put down novel. Some parents will be uncomfortable with chapter nine where the author speculates about whether or not Newton was homosexual, while claiming there is no evidence one way or the other. At any rate, it was certainly interesting getting to know Newton—probably the greatest genius of all time.

Ages 8-12
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Activity: Test your genius when you finish the book with this Isaac Newton Crossword Puzzle.