Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving - Biography Read Aloud Books for Children - Bedtime Stories
Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving, by Eric Metaxas, is a wonderful biographical kid's book read aloud for preschool, kindergarten, and elementary school ages (and adults still young at heart), for the Thanksgiving season.
Parents and teachers, join me here at The Children's Storytime Bookshelf for daily read alouds in the classroom, at bedtime, or anytime!
Follow The Children's Storytime Bookshelf for a classic children's library.
#kidsbooksreadaloud #readaloud #readaloudbooksforchildren
Parents and teachers, join me here at The Children's Storytime Bookshelf for daily read alouds in the classroom, at bedtime, or anytime!
Follow The Children's Storytime Bookshelf for a classic children's library.
#kidsbooksreadaloud #readaloud #readaloudbooksforchildren
Transcript
00:30by Eric Metaxas, illustrated by Shannon Sternweiss.
00:37Every once in a while, the hand of God is easy to see.
00:42And for a brief moment, fairy tales and history are the same thing.
00:47This story is about one of those times.
00:53It was in the year of our Lord, 1608.
00:56Few white men had ever seen North America, but everywhere, there were various tribes
01:02of natives, some who were friendly and trusting, others who were fierce and cruel.
01:08On the chilly, gray coast of what is today called Massachusetts, there lived a tribe
01:13called the Patuxets, who were as friendly and trusting as any that lived.
01:18One of them, a boy about twelve, was called Tisquantum, or Squanto.
01:26One day, while Squanto and some other Patuxet braves were hunting for lobsters along the
01:31shore, they saw a giant vessel.
01:35It was the size of a hundred canoes.
01:38The men aboard it wore strange clothing and had hair on their faces like fur.
01:44But Squanto was not frightened.
01:47He had heard of such men.
01:49These are the men who come every few years from the world across the water, Squanto told
01:55his friends.
01:56They have come to trade with us.
01:59Squanto knew that they often brought bright beads, glinting knives, axe heads, and iron
02:05pots to exchange for animal pelts and furs.
02:08Let's see what they have brought, Squanto said, and he and his companions excitedly
02:14raced down to the water.
02:19At first, the men seemed friendly to the young braves and offered them food.
02:24But then, without warning, the men attacked.
02:28They grabbed the trusting Patuxets and threw them to the ground, tying stiff ropes around
02:33their wrists and feet.
02:35Squanto had never been so frightened.
02:38The men dragged the braves to their giant ship and threw them into the dark hold beneath
02:43the ship's deck, laughing all the while.
02:46Then they locked the hatch above.
02:51Squanto shivered in the darkness.
02:54The ropes hurt his wrists and ankles.
02:57The ship began to move, and Squanto did not know where he was going or, indeed, if he
03:03would ever see sunlight again.
03:06Why had these men done this?
03:08Squanto listened to the water lapping against the hull of the ship.
03:13Now he knew that he was leaving the world of his childhood forever.
03:17Days passed, and then weeks.
03:20They had traveled for so long that it seemed to Squanto they must now be on the other side
03:26of the sky, behind the moon and sun and stars.
03:30Where were they going?
03:34Then one day, the ship dropped anchor.
03:37At long last, they had come to land.
03:40The hatch was opened, and Squanto and his fellow captives were brought ashore.
03:45The glaring sun burned their eyes.
03:48The air was dry and hot, and everything was dusty from the great heat.
03:54Squanto did not know it yet, but he was now in the country of Spain, in a city called
03:59Malaga.
04:00One of the men from the ship roughly herded Squanto and the other braves toward a crowd
04:05of people on the dock.
04:07One by one, the braves were forced to stand before the jeering crowd.
04:12They were being sold as slaves.
04:15Squanto watched his companions as each one was sold and taken away forever.
04:21But God had another plan for Squanto.
04:24On the dock that morning stood a group of men who were different from the others.
04:29These men were called monks, and they served God.
04:32When it was Squanto's turn to be sold, one of the monks held up a small bag of
04:37heavy coins.
04:39A man from the ship snatched the coins and shoved Squanto toward the monks.
04:47As the monks led Squanto to the monastery where they lived, they spoke kindly to him
04:53in words Squanto could not understand.
04:56The monks fed Squanto, gave him a comfortable place to sleep, and helped him understand
05:01that they meant him no harm.
05:04As time passed, the monks taught Squanto their language and about their faith.
05:09They explained that the God they worshipped saw everything that had ever happened.
05:15He knows the future as well as the past, the monks explained, and all the people in the
05:20world are God's children.
05:23God loves you, they said, and he has seen all you have been through.
05:28If you will trust him, he will use those difficulties in ways you could never imagine.
05:37The monks knew that Squanto missed his family, so they tried to help him find a way to go
05:42back home to America.
05:44Finally, they came upon a good plan.
05:47But first, Squanto would have to travel all the way to England.
05:52That's where the trading ships were that sometimes sailed across the great Atlantic Ocean to
05:56Squanto's home.
05:58So about five years after Squanto had first arrived in Spain, the time finally came for
06:03him to leave.
06:05He bid the dear monks farewell and traveled northward in a ship to London, England.
06:13London was an unbelievable sight.
06:16It made the city of Malaga seem as small as the Patuxet village.
06:21There were soaring towers that seemed to touch the clouds, and long bridges that stretched
06:27all the way across the great river called Thames.
06:30All the streets were filled with people and horses and carriages, and in a great palace
06:36there lived a man whom the Londoners called King James.
06:40He was the great chief, the sachem of that entire land.
06:46The monks had sent Squanto to the home of a London merchant named John Slaney.
06:52After hearing Squanto's story, Slaney and his family welcomed Squanto into their home.
06:59As soon as I find another ship headed for America, Slaney promised, you will be on it,
07:05Squanto.
07:06Squanto's heart leaped.
07:07He was going home.
07:09But it might be a long while before such a ship is found, Slaney warned.
07:15Until then, you will stay here with us.
07:18We will teach you our language and our ways.
07:21Perhaps you will be able to pay your passage back to America by working as a translator
07:26on one of the trading ships.
07:28Squanto sighed heavily, but at least now there was hope.
07:32He would stay in London with the Slaneys and work in their stables until a ship was found
07:37that would carry him home.
07:42At last, five long years later, in the year 1618, a ship was found.
07:49Squanto could hardly believe it.
07:51It had been ten years since he had been kidnapped from Patuxet as a boy of twelve.
07:57At long last, he was going home.
08:00With tears in his eyes, Squanto bid farewell to the Slaneys and to the great city of London
08:05with all its towers and bridges.
08:08Then Squanto boarded the ship and sailed westward toward America.
08:13Far across the Atlantic Ocean, the ship stopped in Newfoundland at a large trading post where
08:19it would remain until spring.
08:22Again Squanto waited.
08:24When at last spring arrived, Squanto boarded the ship one more time.
08:29As the many days passed, Squanto thought back over the last ten years.
08:35Had he imagined them?
08:36Was he really going home?
08:41Then one day, as Squanto stood peering across the waters, he saw land.
08:47Land ho! he yelled.
08:49Hurrah!
08:50As the ship drew closer, Squanto saw that he was not far from where he had been kidnapped
08:55all those years ago.
08:57Home.
08:58Squanto went ashore and immediately began running towards his village.
09:03But something was wrong.
09:05The fields around the village were empty and untended.
09:09There was no one on the path to greet him.
09:14When he reached the village, there wasn't a soul to be seen.
09:19Not even a dog barked at his arrival.
09:22What had happened?
09:24Worried and confused, Squanto walked to the village of a neighboring tribe some miles
09:28away.
09:30There Squanto learned the terrible news.
09:33While he had been away, a terrible illness had struck.
09:36His whole village had been sick.
09:39No one had survived.
09:41This news was more than Squanto could bear.
09:44Had his years of exile and his long journey back been for nothing?
09:49How could God allow this to happen?
09:54For a time, Squanto lived with this neighboring tribe.
09:58But as he watched the happy families all around him, his sadness only grew.
10:04Finally, he went to live in the woods by himself.
10:08There Squanto sat, listening to the wind and to the birds singing in the swaying trees.
10:13As he pondered the great sorrow in his heart, he talked to God.
10:18When the trees began to bud again, a tribesman from another village came to visit Squanto.
10:24His name was Samoset, and he told an amazing story.
10:28The year before, a shipload of families had come and settled in Patuxet, in the very place
10:34where Squanto had lived as a boy.
10:37Samoset told Squanto he must come and see them.
10:40Squanto agreed.
10:44When Squanto came to the edge of what had once been his village, he marveled at the
10:49changes that had been made.
10:51Then he saw them—English people!
10:54They spoke and dressed just like those who had been so kind to him in London.
11:00Squanto rejoiced to see children again playing on the land where he himself had played.
11:06Squanto approached the English people and began speaking to them in their own language.
11:10Good morning, he called.
11:12My name is Squanto.
11:14The English were so amazed that they could not speak.
11:17How did this native know their language so well?
11:21Then Squanto told them the sad story of his kidnapping, of his time in Spain and London,
11:27and of his long journey home.
11:29Then the English people told Squanto of their own search for a home.
11:36Because these people, who were called Pilgrims, chose to worship God differently from other
11:42English people, many of them had been arrested and thrown into jail.
11:47So they had left England and traveled to Holland, where they lived for several years.
11:52But when the Pilgrims saw that their children were forgetting the English ways and were
11:56picking up the habits of the new country, the Pilgrims decided to travel across the
12:01ocean to the new world.
12:03They trusted that God would lead them to a new home.
12:07And God led us to this very spot, one of the Pilgrims said.
12:11We have named it Plymouth, in honor of the town in England where we once lived.
12:18Then they told Squanto about the terrible first winter in their new home.
12:23Half of them had died from sickness and starvation.
12:27We didn't have time to build proper houses, they explained.
12:31The winds were bitter, and the cold came in through the cracks in our huts.
12:36Many of us were already sick and weak from the long journey across the ocean.
12:40And then there wasn't enough food.
12:46As the Pilgrims told their story, the sorrow in their voices broke Squanto's heart.
12:52He knew what it was like to lose loved ones.
12:55William Bradford, the governor of Plymouth, then spoke.
13:00It is like the story of Joseph from our sacred scriptures, he said.
13:04Like you, Joseph was also taken from his home and sold as a slave.
13:09But God had a plan for him.
13:11Through Joseph, God was able to save many people from starving.
13:16What man had intended for evil, God intended for good.
13:20Then Bradford smiled at Squanto.
13:23Perhaps God has sent you to be our Joseph, he said.
13:29In the weeks that followed, Squanto felt like a child again.
13:34It was so good to see his village filled with people.
13:38The Pilgrims worked hard to learn the ways of their new home.
13:41And Squanto showed them how to plant corn by burying three kernels along with
13:46the fish for fertilizer.
13:48He taught them how to find and catch eels in the muddy streams.
13:52And he showed them the best places to look for lobsters among the sea rocks.
14:00When autumn came, the Pilgrims decided to set aside a time to thank God for
14:04his merciful blessings.
14:07They invited Squanto and the other braes from Samoset's tribe to join them.
14:11When the great day came, 90 warriors appeared from the forest,
14:16carrying deer, wild turkeys, and all manner of vegetables.
14:21This would be a great feast.
14:22When everyone was seated, Governor Bradford began to pray.
14:31Thank you, Lord, for sending Squanto to us, he prayed.
14:35We know that your hand has been on him through all of his trials, and
14:39that you have prepared him to be our guide and our friend in a time of great need.
14:44Squanto is your living answer to our tears and prayers.
14:47And in his heart, Squanto also thanked God for the Pilgrims.
14:56For they had shown Squanto that God really had used him as part of his great plan,
15:02just as the Spanish monks had said so many years before.
15:05Hallelujah, who but the glorious God of Heaven could so
15:10miraculously weave together the wandering lives of a lonely Patuxet brave and
15:15a struggling band of English Pilgrims,
15:18in such a way that would bless the whole world for centuries to come.
15:24So this Thanksgiving, when you thank God for all he has given you,
15:29remember to thank him for Squanto, the Patuxet brave who was God's
15:33wonderful gift to America in the rosy dawn of its history.
15:37I hope you enjoyed that story.
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