Meet the Dudleys in Colonial Times

Children's Literature - Susan Hepler

Part of the "Early American Family Series," the lives of the Guilford, Connecticut Dudley family are chronicled and imagined in this short combination of fiction and nonfiction. The narrative traces a few days in the lives of the Dudley family-spring cleaning near an end, a day in school, various chores, and the announcement that a beloved aunt is to marry a neighbor and live nearby. In between, paragraphs seamlessly explain school or holiday customs, workday chores, food preparation, and other facets of Colonial life. Cleanly staged photographs, unaccredited as to setting, show typical household furnishings and interiors while six double-page watercolor spreads depict the family at work and play. Useful as discussion material for upper elementary Colonial studies, the book's endmatter includes a bibliography of other relevant fiction and nonfiction children's books, and an index for report writers.