Plymouth Rocks!
The Stone-Cold Truth

By: Jane Yolen / Illustrated by: Sam Streed

Can you really believe the rock?

Master storyteller Jane Yolen marks the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower landing at Plymouth Rock by channeling the voice of this national monument in comical poems. But the rock might not be telling the whole truth so the Fact-checker is here with her red pen to help out!

Funny and serious in turns, this poetry collection gently but firmly calls out parts of US history that people often neglect or misrepresent and encourages young people to think critically about what they hear, wherever they hear it.

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Look Inside

Author & Illustrator

Jane Yolen, author

Jane Yolen is the award-winning author of over three hundred children’s books including Last Laughs: Prehistoric Epitaphs; Last Laughs: Animal Epitaphs; Bad Girls (with Heidi E. Y. Stemple); Owl Moon, a Caldecott Medal Winner; the How Do Dinosaurs . . . ? series; and Sea Queens. She has been called the Hans Christian Andersen of the Americas.

Read more about Jane.

Sam Streed, illustrator

Sam Streed is a children’s book author, illustrator, game artist, and animator. He is the author and illustrator of Alfred’s Book of Monsters and is a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design.

Read more about Sam

Awards & Honors

• Coming soon!

Editorial Reviews

School Library Journal

In this informative picture book, the anthropomorphic Plymouth Rock describes its history. An unnamed fact checker, who appears to be a light-skinned young woman with red glasses and a bun, confirms or corrects the rocks story. The rocks rhyming prose is written on an unrolled scroll of paper. Red ink is used to clarify or dispel the rocks take on its own history. For example, The disembarkers stepped on me,/ first footfalls toward their liberty, claims the rock. However, the fact checker writes, No large rock or stepping stone is mentioned in any of the travelers journals or logs. Yolen also addresses the Indigenous community. The fact checker provides an honest account of how the colonizers impacted Native people: More and more colonists soon arrived and took Native land to build their houses. They treated the Native people brutally and dishonestly. Both Yolens text and Streeds cartoon illustrations are inviting. At times the poetry is a tad awkward (Now placed in/ a portico,/ my life once more/ is put on show) but in general, the poetry keeps pace with the prose. This title is best suited to an audience who has some familiarity with Plymouth Rock. VERDICT Humorous pictures supplement prose and poetry to create a unique, clever, engaging picture book about one aspect of early American history.

Downloadables

Download the CoverDownload the Teacher’s Activity Guide

Details

Hardcover
ISBN: 978-1-58089-685-6

E-book
ISBN: 978-1-63289-832-6 EPUB

Ages: 4-8
Page count: 32
9 x 10

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