A Sampler View of Colonial Life: With Projects Kids Can Make

by Mary Cobb

This look at day-to-day Colonial life as seen through the samplers that were stitched by girls contains detailed projects, from weaving the cloth for a sampler to creating a sampler on the computer.

Genres: History, Crafts

64 pages, Library Binding

First published September 1, 1998

Reviews

[Elizabeth · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you're seriously into colonial samplers, don't read his book. However, if you're new to samplers, you might find this book interesting.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although there is nothing spectacular about this simple book I think an old soul type of little girl would enjoy the craft projects it contained. Might be a good pairing for the Little House on the Prairie or American Girl collections.

[Lynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would have loved this book as a nine-year old. It is a history of girls education in colonial America written for eight to ten year olds. There is a craft project included for each chapter.

[Margo Brooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice history book on Colonial Samplers and the girls who made them written for children 9-12. The book has short chapters on Colonial education and sewing and the history of samplers from simple sewing rolls to more elaborate pictorial samplers. The projects in this book are fun and easy to recreate. The one problem is that there are no photos and minimal drawings of samplers, although drawings of sampler motifs are scattered around the book. A child who had never seen a sampler might not get the full picture of what one looked like. Additionally, there aren't any actual embroidery projects. All the projects, except the last project that creates a simple running stitch sampler are based on drawing on paper or using the computer to develop modern samplers. Even so, it was well written and could spark the imagination of a young history oriented child.

[Toni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming illustrations throughout this little book that would be fun to share with a young girl. the many simple craft projects included are a delightful bonus.

[Barb Bailey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really like Samplers and have made several myself. This book was really less than I hoped for as it really was very basic and I learned nothing new from it.