James Towne: Struggle for Survival
- author & illustrator: Marcia Sewell "no author website"
- medium: watercolor and sepia ink
- year of publication: 2001
- publication city: New York, NY
- publisher: Atheneum Books For Young Readers
- ISBN: 978-0-689-81814-1
Annotation: Sewall provides a narrative account of the establishment of Jamestown, Virginia, including John Smith’s role in the colony’s development and the difficult early years of life in the new world.
Sewall’s illustrations almost seem as if the narrator himself could have created them, binding the story’s text to the visual representation in a way that opulent or overly detailed illustrations could not have: the style is realistic in that the scenes pictured are non-fantastical and are representative of historic truth, not the narrator’s interpretation of them (which Sewall brilliantly manages to maintain throughout the entire story while still lending the narrator a separate and distinct personality). Yet the ink and watercolor media combination present the illustrations as something the narrator or a fellow colonist could have created in their own observations of the development of James Towne: the media style is merged with the story, not depleting the text but deepening the reader’s personal connection to the narrator which the diary-like writing style began. The story starts with James Towne’s own beginnings as an idea formed in England: three ships depart the country, after which the journey to the Americas and its hardships are documented, and then the founding and building of the colony is explored. Sewall looks at aspects of early colonial life that are generally overlooked by school books and for which this story could easily supplement the curriculum: hardships beyond interacting with the natives and the new land, such as the people England continued to send over to live in the colony despite James Towne’s struggle to care for its current inhabitants, and the reliance these colonists continued to have on their home country despite having lived in the new world for several years. Life after John Smith is also highlighted, and how the colony almost (literally) died out. Sewall provides a list of the story’s characters at the book’s end and a glossary of terms. The need for both of these demonstrates this book’s reliance on historical fact and how Sewall attempted to have readers experience James Towne as the settlers did—with the words of those around them and the language of the times. Further source material is offered which would enrich continued lessons or focus on the subject for any classroom.
***Curriculum Connection - 5th Grade U.S. History, Jamestown Colony, Early Settlers, American Colonies
