Molly's Pilgrim

""No, Elizabeth," Miss Stickley replied. "They read in the Bible about the Jewish harvest holiday of Tabernacles." I knew that holiday. We called it Sukkoth.

Miss Stickley was still talking, "The Pilgrims got the idea for Thanksgiving from Jews like Molly and her mama." She marched down the aisle to my desk again. "May I have your doll for a while, Molly?"

"Sure," I said.

"I'm going to put this beautiful doll on my desk," Miss Stickley announced, "where everyone can see it all the time. It will remind us that Pilgrims are still coming to America." She smiled at me. "I'd like to meet your mama, Molly. Please ask her to come to see me one day after school.""

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Barbara Cohen

Cohen (1932-1992) authored a number of acclaimed picture books and chapter books for younger readers. She was awarded the National Jewish Book Award for Picture Books in 1983.

Jennifer Bricking

Bricking has illustrated animation games and advertisements, as well as children's books. She is currently an artist at the Disney Interactive Studio in San Diego.

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World Relevance

Molly's Pilgrim is quite a little subversive book! Cohen takes the Anglo-Protestant images of the first Thanksgiving which elementary children usually know and tilts it sideways for them.  She uses the language of Pilgrims and Indians to show how new emigrants to the United States can identify with the reasons pilgrims crossed to America. The story does reflect the era in which it was written with stereotypical gender roles and unchecked bullying. Yet, the idea that people who come to the United States are looking for something better and proud to be here is a theme worth sharing with younger readers.

Synopsis

Molly's family are recent emigrants from Russia and she is the only Jewish child in her third grade class. Molly is miserable and wants to return to Russia because her classmates bully her everyday. Mama helps Molly with her Thanksgiving project - a pilgrim doll dressed in traditional Russian clothing -- which, in turn, helps the other children understand Molly is a modern pilgrim.

Learning Connections

• 5 Tips for Teaching Immigration to Elementary Students, Baily, Population Education
  
• Immigration Lesson Plan for Grades 3–5, Scholastic
  
• Celebrating Sukkot, PJ Library - information and lots of activities
  
• Judaism Facts for Kids, Kids Encyclopedia Facts, Kiddle
  
• Simple DIY Clothespin Crafts for Kids, Triad Moms on Main
  
• Clothespin Dolls, Instructables
  
• In Pictures: Traditional Dress Around The World, Rough Guides

Early chapter book, 40 pages. Molly is a recent Jewish immigrant from Russia and is bullied in her third-grade class until a small clothespin doll helps her classmates see her in a new light.