Anne Hutchinson's Way by Jeannine Atkins and Michael Dooling

The book Anne Hutchinson's Way, written by Jeannine Atkins and beautifully illustrated by Michael Dooling tells the story of Anne Hutchinson, a puritan who was sent to the American colonies with her family in 1634. This book focuses on her life in the Massachusetts's Bay Colony, and ends with her and her family being exiled from the colony due to her outspoken disagreements with the local minister. Though this is a bleak story, it is one that I imagine young readers will enjoy. Atkins' simple descriptive sentences and Dooling's gorgeously detailed painted illustrations bring the minutiae of colonial life into sharp focus, helping transport readers to an America that may seem very foreign to them.

Subject-wise, I feel that this is a story that will remain with young readers long after they read it. At it's core, this is a story about following your conscience even in the face of threats of violence or punishment. The ending serves as a reminder that, in real life, not all conflicts have fairy tale endings (though I will admit that this final exile is not presented in such an oppressively bleak fashion as to throw the readers into early fits of nihilism; Anne still has her family and still has a home). I feel that this book works well as both a character study and a window into a specific era of American history.

Additonal Resource: Great Americans- Anne Hutchinson by Kiely Miller

This early childhood nonfiction resource from Weekly Reader Publishing is an excellent supplement to the story told by Atkins and Dooling. Great Americans: Anne Hutchinson is a textbook designed to be read by early elementary readers and provides them with more detailed information about Anne Hutchinson and the world she lived in. The book is filled with image of historical paintings and maps of relevant locations. In addition to educating young readers about colonial America, this book would make an excellent introduction to the research skills that students will need later in life such as navigating a table of context or glossary, comparing text information to relevant images, using a map to contextualize historical information. I would highly recommend this text to young readers.