Molly’s Pilgrim

By Susan Fletcher and Jennifer Bricking

A modern Thanksgiving classic about an immigrant girl who comes to identify with the story of the Pilgrims, as she seeks religious freedom and a home in a new land.

As Molly nears her first Thanksgiving in the New World, she doesn't find much to be thankful for. Her classmates giggle at her Yiddish accent and make fun of her unfamiliarity with American ways.

Molly's embarassed when her mother helps with a class Thanksgiving project by making a little doll that looks more like a Russian refugee than a New England Pilgrim. But the tiny modern-day pilgrim just might help Molly to find a place for herself in America.

The touching story tells how recent immigrant Molly leads her third-grade class to discover that it takes all kinds of pilgrims to make a Thanksgiving. Originally published in 1983, Molly's Pilgrim inspired the 1986 Academy Award-winning live-action short film.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Mar 2, 2021
• ISBN: 9780063138070

Susan Fletcher

Susan Fletcher was born in 1979 in Birmingham. She is the author of the bestselling Eve Green (winner of the Whitbread First Novel Award), Oystercatchers and Witch Light - and most recently, the much-lauded Let Me Tell You About A Man I Knew.

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Reviews for Molly’s Pilgrim

[abrahamray · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great children’s book about pilgrims in olden times.

[raskfamilylibrary · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Set before the Russian Revolution. Molly is a Russian refugee fleeing religious persecution living in a small town in the USA. The story tells what happens when Molly 's Pilgrim doll for a class assignment and receives a wonderful reaction from the teacher. "It takes all kinds of Pilgrims to make a Thanksgiving". Beautiful story. A tear jerker.

[abigailadams26 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A young Russian-Jewish immigrant girl in the early years of the twentieth century must contend with bullying and the ridicule of her peers when her family moves away from New York City to a smaller town. Here, at the school in Winter Hill, Molly's differences really stand out, especially when the mean Elizabeth is always there to comment on them. When her teacher gives her class an assignment to make little doll-sized Pilgrims or Indians, to be included in the model they are building of the First Thanksgiving, Molly shares the task with her mother. Called upon to explain what Pilgrims are, she describes them as people who "came to this country from the other side," looking for "religious freedom...so they could worship God as they pleased." Molly's mother identifies strongly with this description, and makes a doll that looks just like her, when she was a little girl. For her part, Molly is dismayed, sure that her "Pilgrim" will not find favor with her class and teacher. Fortunately, her teacher, Miss Stickley, uses the incident to explore what it really means to be a Pilgrim, and draws a parallel between the American holiday of Thanksgiving, and the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles, or Sukkoth....

First published in 1983, Molly's Pilgrim is probably one of author Barbara Cohen's most well-known books, and has remained constantly in print since it was first released. I believe that a new edition, with new cover art, was just released earlier this year (2018). That said, although long aware of it, and although a fan of some of Cohen's other books - notably, her Seven Daughters and Seven Sons, which is a particular favorite of mine - I never happened to pick it up before now. A brief thirty pages, it is neither a picture-book (too much text, and too few illustrations), nor a beginning chapter-book (too short, no chapters), but something in between. It is really an illustrated short story, in book format. Its narrative addresses issues of bullying, immigration, social inclusion, cultural knowledge, and religious freedom, using the traditional Thanksgiving story to highlight the message that (as Miss Stickley says), Pilgrims are still coming to America. I found the story here quite moving, even tearing up at a few points, and think that it could be used as a starting point for classroom discussion of so many themes, from bullying and how to deal with it, to the ways in which "history" (even if highly mythologized history, like the "First Thanksgiving" story) has so many parallels in contemporary events. Recommended to anyone looking for children's stories about Thanksgiving, and the meaning it may have for a diverse range of people, but most especially, for new immigrants to America.

[cheryl_in_cc_nv · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

For a book with a lesson, it's pretty good. The original illustrations are fine, with a retro feel that totally fits the plot and the setting. I do like how the teacher isn't perfect, but finally in November she realizes how to make Molly feel safer and more a part of the community of the classroom.

[masterm-3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

My son read this for school. He was moved by it and wanted me to read it so we could talk about it; it made for a great discussion on being kind to others, etc. Very sweet story.

[skaide1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

There are many reasons why I liked this book. I liked the plot, as it was organized, kept a maintainable pace, and mainly led the reader to lie in suspense as to what event would happen next. For example, Molly's family is a Jewish family from Russia, and she is experiencing school for the very first time. In class they are told to go home and make a pilgrim doll for a Thanksgiving project, and Molly brings back a doll with the image of her as a little girl. The other kids laughed at her: "That's not a pilgrim, stupid!" There lies the suspense for for the reader, as you don't know if her teacher will accept Molly's doll or think she did not follow the rules. I liked the tension it brought about with this suspense, and it really engages the reader. The big idea in this book was that a Pilgrim is just someone who enters a country from a different one, and there is no right or wrong, everyones differences are excepted. It was a very beneficial central message, and indeed a beneficial read.

[teacherlibrarian_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Cohen, Barbara. Molly’s pilgrim. (1988). New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books.

Molly is a Jewish girl in third grade at a school in Winter Hill. Her family recently moved from Russia to escape persecution of Jews there. There is a girl in school, Elizabeth, who makes fun of Molly because her English isn’t perfect yet. Elizabeth’s friends join in and make Molly feel miserable. She tells her mom who offers to go to school to talk to their teacher. Molly doesn’t want her to go the school because she doesn’t speak like the other mothers do; she knows very little English. At Thanksgiving time, Miss Stickley, Molly’s teacher, assigns the students to make pilgrim dolls. Molly’s mother offers to make one for Molly after Molly explains that a pilgrim is a person who came here to find religious freedom. The doll she makes is beautiful – and it looks like and is dressed like Molly’s mother. Elizabeth makes fun of the doll in class in front of Miss Stickley and all the children, saying it doesn’t look like a pilgrim because it looks Russian or Polish. Miss Stickley gives Elizabeth a lesson in where the Pilgrims got the idea for Thanksgiving – from the Jewish harvest holiday of Tabernacles. So, Miss Stickley explains to Elizabeth, the idea for Thanksgiving came from Jews like Molly and her mother. Miss Stickley asks Molly if she can display her doll on her desk and tells the class it will serve as a reminder that pilgrims are still coming to America. When Miss Stickley asks Molly to invite her mother to visit after school some day, Molly thinks it will be all right for her mother to come to school after all.

This is an excellent realistic fiction book. It effectively shows young children the pain and difficulty of being new to a school and of being new to a country. Children can relate to Molly’s feeling of embarrassment over being laughed at for being different. Children whose parents are different from the other children’s parents can relate to the way Molly loves her mother but doesn’t feel comfortable with her coming to school because she dresses and speaks differently from the other parents. Elizabeth and her followers are like real children the young readers know. Elizabeth’s giggling at Molly in class and the way she and her friend Hilda follow Molly on her way home singing a song that mocks Molly’s appearance are the kinds of things bullies typically do. The song refers to Molly having small eyes and a tall nose. This may be a bigoted way to mock her for being Jewish. Such bigotry still happens among children; this is another element that adds to the characters’ realism. The author shows that Molly and her mother are Jewish, but doesn’t use stereotypes to do so. This book does an excellent job of helping children appreciate the difficulties children who are new to the country face.

The illustrations are detailed black and white drawings that add to children’s understanding of the story by showing the cruel, mocking expressions on Elizabeth and her friends’ faces. They also show Molly’s expressions of fear, embarrassment, and pain. The illustrations do a good job of showing children how different Molly’s mother looks from Miss Stickley in the way they dress and wear their hair.

[rvangent · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book is a good example of realistic fiction because it portrays accurate human interactions, as the main character Molly has to deal with children in her class that make fun of her because of her ethnicity. The development throughout the story lets us in on Molly's feelings as she struggles through going to school everyday and in the end, a class project helps her classmates to truly understand the importance of accepting people that are different.
Media: pencil and charcoal drawings

[cry6546 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Molly's Pigrim is a story about a young girl who is trying to fit into her third grade class. Molly's family Immigrated from Goraduk. Molly's class had to make a woman pilgrim out of a clothes pin. Molly's mom ended up making the pilgrim which looked like her. She told Molly that she is a modern day pilgrim.

[marciaskidslit · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Molly’s Pilgrim is a Thanksgiving story that teaches children that pilgrimage is ongoing. Pilgrims did not stop coming to America after the first Thanksgiving in the 1700s. Molly and her family are modern pilgrims; they emigrated from Russia to America for religious freedom. The doll Molly brings to class is a symbol that pilgrims should not be stereotyped; they represent diversity.

As a transitional book, the story introduces a sensitive subject and realistic relationships that children will face as they grow up. Vocabulary is simple and easy to read. There are no defined chapters in the book that would make it easier for children to transition between episodes in the story. The illustrations are done in shaded pencil. The book jacket is in watercolors.

[kidlit9 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Told to make a doll like a Pilgrim for the Thanksgiving display at school, Molly's Jewish mother dresses the doll as she herself dressed before leaving Russia to seek religious freedom-much to Molly's embarrassment.