******************************************************************************
Publisher and Date: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc., 1983
Audience Level: 3-9
Main Theme: Pilgrims
Other Possible Themes: Thanksgiving, Family, Immigrants, Family Heritage, Moving/Changes
Values to Target: True Friendship,
******************************************************************************
About the Book

Molly’s family moved to America from Russia. Life in the third grade is difficult for her because the girls at Winter Hill School make fun of her clothes and her accent. Molly’s family came to America to find freedom, but Molly is not experiencing this and she wants to return to Russia. It’s Thanksgiving and the students in Molly’s class must make a clothespin Pilgrim doll. With the help of her mother, Molly’s Pilgrim looks like a Russian peasant girl. Now Molly is afraid she will never fit in, but with the help of a sensitive teacher, Molly’s Pilgrim is praised and used to remind the students that Pilgrims are still coming to America. Molly learns a valuable lesson about Pilgrims and about her Mom.

Class Activity
Class: Two third-grade classes with one Hmong in each class
Activity: Make a clothespin Pilgrim and Indian
Additional Activity: Pilgrim doll of another nationality made by a Hmong student

Before beginning the book, my students and I discussed the upcoming holiday - Thanksgiving. I told them we were going to do an activity related to the book and, as we began reading, they would see how the activity would tie into the book. I pulled the two Hmong students aside and asked them to make an additional clothespin doll that looked like their people. The following pictures show the results.