In Their Own Words: Pocahontas (In Their Own Words)

By George Sullivan

Book Overview

IN THEIR OWN WORDS: POCAHONTAS tells the exciting story of the life of this famous Native American woman, using the journals and writings of English colonists. Famous for saving the life of Capt. John Smith in 1608, Pocahontas grew up as the favorite daughter of the Native American chief of the Powhatans. Pocahontas's rescue of Smith made her famous not only in colonial America, but across the ocean in England as well. Pocahontas made enormous contributions to the survival of Jamestown by bringing the colonists food and promoting peace between Powhatans and the English. Pocahontas lived a relatively short life, but she made an impact on colonial American history that is still felt today. Did you know that Pocahontas: -was really named Matoaka -taught John Smith how to speak Algonkian -was kidnapped and held hostage on an English ship?

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0439165857
• ISBN13: 9780439165853
• Release Date: March 2002
• Publisher: Scholastic Reference
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.3" x 7.6"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

Oldie but at Goodie!

This is an oldie but a goodie! This book makes a great introduction to the story of Pocahontas and her life. Even though this book is written for older children (4th-6th grade), it can be enjoyed by adults as well. Being a home school mom I read all the kid's books before they do. I really enjoyed this one.

Pocahontas: In Their Owns.

Colelct any publication, history, of our Indian Princess!. Shocking, though, to see that she was possibly raped. Why has this been hushed up?

GREAT ADDITION TO A GREAT SERIES

Like all the books in this particular series for young people, you get much more that just a simple story about an individual. With this one the young reader is exposed to much more than the simple story we learned fifty years ago, most of it not true, and is given a very good insight to just how it was at that time in our nations history. This work is very well researched, very well written and the illustrations fit the text quite well. As another reviewer has pointed out, in addition to learning the life of a very important individual, the young reader is taught how to study history, what source documents are and what is important and what is not. I cannot recommend this one high enough.

Interesting history.

Scholastic's new series, IN THEIR OWN WORDS, is designed to tell you all about famous people's lives and what they accomplished. Most of you have heard of the legend of Pocahontas which claims she was only 12 years old when she saved Captain Smith's life. But did she really save Captain Smith or did he just make that up after she was dead?Pocahontas, which wasn't her real name, was kidnapped by the English and turned into an Englishwoman. The book contains lots of pictures of her, two of them made during her lifetime, plus pictures of the kinds of dwellings she would have lived in as an Indian princess. You'll learn about the lives of her descendants, too. For example, her son inherited land from his grandfather Powhatan --- land in the thousands of acres --- and turned it into a tobacco plantation. Hundreds and hundreds of descendants of Pocahontas are living today. Even though she only lived to be 21 years old, she played an important part in our nation's history and today there's a statue of her that stands in Jamestown, Virginia.The IN THEIR OWN WORDS series also gives you tips about how to research historic information. It explains the difference between primary sources and secondary sources when you're studying history. For example, you will see some pictures that people, even young schoolgirls, have painted of Pocahontas over the years. You can decide whether you think they were accurate likenesses, or whether people tried to make her look more beautiful than she really was.Read this book and find out a lot more facts and interesting history about one of the most famous people in America. Pocahontas may even have been the person most responsible for there being the United States of America. --- Reviewed by Tamara Penny

Great biography for early readers

I think this is a great resource for teachers who need a good biography on a native american indian who had an impact on our lives. It is an easy reading book with great detail. I recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about Pocahontas and the Powhatan tribe.