The Salem Witch Trials: An Unsolved Mystery from History

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

Overview

In this spooky book from the nonfiction An Unsolved Mystery from History picture book series, tragedy strikes Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692 as the community is torn apart by accusations of witchcraft.

When a group of girls came down with a horrible, mysterious bout of illness, they pointed the finger at people in their community they claimed were witches. Soon, the whole town was convinced they were in danger from supernatural forces. Today, we have details about the accusations, trials, and those who lost their lives, but the question remains: What caused the mass hysteria?

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

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781665912983
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Publication date:	05/25/2021
Series:	An Unsolved Mystery from History
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	36 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
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

Gr 3-6-Yolen and her daughter outline the basic events that gripped this community while boxed text, drawn to look like pages from an investigator's notebook, add context. Smaller sidebars define some of the terms used. The book concludes with a presentation of some of the extant theories of what caused the girls' hysteria and the reactions of the other townspeople, with questions for readers, based on the text, that may support or attack each theory. Roth's graphite-and-watercolor illustrations, done in somber tones, convey the bleakness of the Colonial winter and the drama of the unfolding events. There have been a number of books for this audience covering the Salem witch trials, Edward Dolan's (Benchmark, 2001), Tamra Orr's (Blackbirch, 2004), and Stephen Currie's (KidHaven, 2002), among them. While these titles cover the facts more completely and may be better suited for reports, the investigative approach used here gives a different perspective and encourages readers to evaluate the evidence and draw their own conclusions.-Elaine Fort Weischedel, Millbury Public Library, MA Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

In the fourth offering in the Unsolved Mystery from History series, the curious little girl invites readers to 1692 and Salem, Massachusetts, to examine the hysteria of the witch-hunts. An extremely simple narrative about the Parris family, their slave, Tituba, and the fear and frenzy that surrounded them is augmented by the young sleuth's rather grown-up spiral-notebook asides. Definitions specific to this particular inquiry are offered on multicolored Post-it notes that seem to be laid atop Roth's grim watercolor-and-pencil illustrations. Finally, the authors offer five hypothetical causes for the terror of the Salem Witch Trials (ranging from ridiculous to reasonable), but none is identified as "correct." Rather, they suggest that the reader may have developed a theory of his or her own. Web sites mentioned are viable but aimed at older readers, and the bibliography is meant for adults. While this may have lots of appeal for the nascent investigator, it may be less than satisfying for young historians, who will wonder how Yolen and Stemple know what they say they know. (Picture book. 7-10)

Kirkus Reviews