Roanoke, the Lost Colony: An Unsolved Mystery from History

by Jane Yolen, Heidi E. Y. Stemple, Roger Roth (Illustrator)

Overview

In this spine-tingling book from the nonfiction An Unsolved Mystery from History picture book series, journey to colonial America and discover the enduring mystery of the missing Roanoke Colony.

In 1587 John White was chosen by Sir Walter Raleigh to lead a new colony at Roanoke off the Atlantic coast. After bringing many men, women, and children to the new land, White went back to England to gather supplies for the long winter. But when he finally returned to the fort almost three years later, he found that all of the colonists had vanished.

The only signs of life left were the letters CRO carved into a tree and the word CROATOAN carved into one of the fort’s posts. Did the Spanish army capture the colonists? Did the colonists get in a battle with the native people—or join them? Did they try to follow John White to England and get lost at sea?

Become a detective, study the clues, and see if you can help solve this chilling mystery from history!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780689823213
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Publication date:	07/01/2003
Series:	An Unsolved Mystery from History
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	444,603
Product dimensions:	9.25(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.30(d)
Lexile:	850L (what's this?)
Age Range:	6 - 10 Years

About the Author

Jane Yolen is an award-winning author who has written more than 380 books for children, including the bestseller How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? and the 1988 Caldecott Medal winner Owl Moon. She is known for her beautiful poetry, picture books, fairy tales, novels, and nonfiction, and has even been called “the Hans Christian Andersen of America” (Newsweek). She lives in Hatfield, Massachusetts. Visit her at JaneYolen.com.

Heidi Elisabet Yolen Stemple is the author of more than thirty books for children, some of which she coauthored with her mother, Jane Yolen, including Not All Princesses Dress in Pink. Heidi lives in Hatfield, Massachusetts.

Roger Roth has been an illustrator since graduating with a BFA from Pratt Institute in 1980. Roger’s work appears regularly in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, and other publications. His work is also used by advertising companies for national and international campaigns. Roger has illustrated more than fifteen children’s books (two of which he also wrote). He also serves as senior lecturer at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia and is a frequent presenter at area schools.

Editorial Reviews

The third volume in the Unsolved Mystery from History series, Roanoke: The Lost Colony by Jane Yolen and Heidi Elisabet Yolen Stemple, illus. by Roger Roth, once again invites readers to use their detective skills to solve a puzzle from the past. In this intriguing entry, English colonists at Roanoke vanish sometime between 1587 and 1590, accompanied by atmospheric pencil and watercolor artwork. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Gr 2-5-A young narrator who wants to be a detective when she grows up tells the story of the English colonists who went to Roanoke Island in 1587 and disappeared almost without a trace. A framed box of text, multicolored Post-its that define words, and a small notebook page that fleshes out information are laid over each double-page, pencil-and-watercolor painting. The balanced text is written in declarative, factual language that can be a bit abrupt at times and leaves little room for the poignancy and drama that is inherent in the story. A two-page concluding section offers a time line and five traditional theories of what might have happened, each followed by questions that help test the premise. The narrator prompts children to come to their own conclusions from the clues presented. The idea is an intriguing one but answers to some of the questions are available only through additional research or speculation. In addition, pieces of evidence that might be helpful, such as tree-ring evidence of a possible great drought at the time, are omitted. A detective trying to come up with reasonable theories would also benefit from a good map. Both text and full-color naturalistic illustrations are attentive to the Native American perspective, and Colonial attitudes toward native peoples are explained, as are the results of those attitudes. While appeal is limited, the book may prove useful despite its flaws.-Nancy Palmer, The Little School, Bellevue, WA Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

A gimmicky "mystery from history" is presented with the true detective work leached out of it and replaced with a phony framework meant to simulate clue-tracking. A frame story presents a girl who turns her enjoyment of the detective work of history to the lost colony of Roanoke. The subsequent narrative tells the story of the colonists, accompanied by full-bleed illustrations overlaid with mock notepaper explaining details and faux sticky-notes that randomly define terms-"destination" and "vicinity," for instance, but not the much more difficult "politics." The true shame of this effort, however, is that there is no attempt to reveal what is really exciting about history: how we know about the few details we have. This narrative is followed by a listing of five hypotheses varying from plausible to mystical, inviting readers to form their own. If the reader does, however, it is not because the preceding work has given her any idea how to formulate such a speculation. As an account of the lost colony, this is adequate; as a true mystery from history, it misses the boat. (bibliography, Web sites) (Picture book/nonfiction. 5-9)

Kirkus Reviews