Dutch Colonies in America

Children's Literature - Chris Newsham

Full of photographs of primary documents and paintings from the time period, this book has just the right balance of text and pictures to hold the interest of its middle school audience. Part of the "We the People" history series, it contains a detailed account of the creation of Dutch colonies from the explorations of Henry Hudson to the eventual surrender of New Netherlands to the English. An index, a table of contents and glossary, along with pages of important dates in a time line and a quick list of important people, make the information in the book readily accessible and easily used for research. A section named "Did You Know" contains additional facts that did not find a place in the main text but are of high interest. To find out more, we are directed to other books, museums, and a website that was created by the publisher and is accessed through FactHound. When you first go to the website it looks elementary, but when you type in the book ID and get to the information specific for this book, it is on the same reading level. The website has some introductory information and a virtual tour of New Netherlands and New Amsterdam. There are many maps from the time period that can be enlarged and would be well used by a teacher projecting the images from their computer. Some of the links I tried were no longer good, but most of the information is available and interesting. This book is well written and will be useful for the middle school teacher who is teaching about colonization in America. Reviewer: Chris Newsham