Poet, Pilgrim, Rebel, written by Katie Munday Williams, is a non-fiction picture book that tells of the life of Anne Bradstreet.
I have to include, right now, that this would make a great living book for any Charlotte Mason homeschool family.
The story begins in England, 1620, and Anne is an 8-year-old girl. Williams gives us a quick look into typical English Puritan life for a girl. They did not go to school, but did learn to read and write in order to study the Bible. Anne developed her love for poetry through her father. As he read, spoke, and immersed himself in the world of poetry, music, astronomy, and medicine Anne listened. (See parents - our kids are always watching and listening!) These late night discussions molded Anne into the person she was to become.
“Listen and learn. Listen and learn. This was the rhythm of Anne’s days.”
At age 16 she was married and at 18 her entire world changed. Literally. Here’s another church history moment to definitely spend more time in study - the king of England, James I, ordered all Puritan churches closed or burned. Anne, her husband, and her family would leave England for the New World in 1630.
They reached Massachusetts and set to work. Building a Puritan community and taking care of the sick. Even though she had to leave all her books behind in England and it was “work and sleep” all the days, Anne still had poetry through the new sounds around her.
“It was a hard life. Anne worried about the colony and her family, but as a good Puritan woman, she kept quiet.”
At age 20, Anne became very ill. Once she was better she finally began writing her own poetry and from that point on she never stopped writing. And people liked it! They didn’t tell her to stop and her writings even made it back to England!
“Anne had shown that women could be great writers. She had paved the way for others. And she was proud to be the first person to be published in America.”
I’ve taken so many English classes I couldn’t tell you which one it was, but I do remember reading Bradstreet’s poems. My favorite one is “To My Dear and Loving Husband”. She is considered the first published poet from the New World. I imagine the author enjoyed writing this book because, as you’ll see from the Author’s Note, Anne is Williams’ great-grandmother x14! A major theme of Bradstreet’s poems was Puritan Life and I think Williams also does a great job giving us a portrait of this life. Not only are you going to learn about Bradstreet, but you’ll learn of the history happening around her, and how it affected daily life.
I can just see so much to come from one book - other parts of history to explore, poems to read, perhaps a night of Puritan foods/dress/and lots of candles! Poet, Pilgrim, Rebel is more than just a sit-and-read book. You’ll definitely want to keep this one out because it will be used and read over and over again.