For one of American history units, I framed our travel to Plymouth, Massachusetts and our visit to Plimoth Plantation’s museum with literature about the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag. This list includes stories about the Mayflower and the First Thanksgiving, but I’ve also strived to move beyond the ubiquitous narratives; in particular, I wanted to emphasize the rich cultural tradition of the Wampanoag people before colonialism and the continuation of that tradition through the present day. This list includes descriptions of the Mayflower voyage; details about the Pilgrims and the First Thanksgiving; and history, legends, biographies, and contemporary accounts of the Wampanoag. These selections highlight the complexity of living history.
- Across the Wide dark Sea: The Mayflower Journey by Jean Van Leeuwen and Thomas B. Allen
- The Children of the Morning Light: Wampanoag Tales by Manitonquat and Mary F. Arquette
- Clambake: A Wampanoag Tradition by Russell Peters and John Madama
- Flying with the Eagle, Racing the Great Bear: Stories from Native North America by Joseph Bruchac
- If You Lived at the Time of Squanto by Anne Kamma and Pamela Johnson
- If You Were at the First Thanksgiving by Anne Kamma and Bert Dodson
- The Mayflower by Mark Greenwood and Frané Lessac
- Native Peoples of the Northeast by Barbara Linde
- North American Indian by David Murdoch
- On the Mayflower by Kate Waters and Russ Kendall
- People of the Breaking Day by Marcia Sewall
- The People Shall Continue by Simon Ortiz and Sharol Graves
- Pilgrims: Fact Tracker by Mary Pope Osborne Natalie Pope Boyce and Sal Murdocca
- The Pilgrims of Plimoth by Susan E. Goodman
- The Pilgrims’ First Thanksgiving by Ann McGovern and Elroy Freem
- The Pilgrims’ Thanksgiving from A to Z by Laura Crawford and Judith Hierstein
- Samuel Eaton’s Day: A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Boy by Kate Waters and Russ Kendall
- Sarah Morton’s Day: A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Girl by Kate Waters and Russ Kendall
- Spotlight on Native Americans: Wampanoag by Joseph Stanley
- Squanto: 1585?-1622 by Arlene Hirschfelder
- Squanto’s Journey: The Story of the First Thanksgiving by Joseph Bruchac and Greg Shed
- The Story of the Pilgrims by Katharine Ross and Carolyn Croll
- Tapenum’s Day: A Wampanoag Indian Boy in Pilgrim Times by Kate Waters and Russ Kendall
- Thanksgiving on Thursday by Mary Pope Osborne and Sal Murdocca
- The Thanksgiving Story by Alice Dalgliesh and Helen Sewell
- Thank you, Sarah: The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving by Laurie Halse Anderson and Matt Faulkner
- This is the Feast by Diane Shore and Megan Lloyd
- Thunder from the Clear Sky by Marcia Sewall
- The Very First Thanksgiving Day by Rhonda Gowler Greene and Susan Gaber
- Wampanoag by Barbara Gray-Kanatiiosh
- The Wampanoag: The People of the First Light by Janet Riehecky
- The Wampanoag and Their History by Natalie M. Rosinsky