Module 4: "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare

Book Cover Image:

 (image from www.goodreads.com)

                                 "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare

Book Summary:

16-year-old Kit Tyler has always lived in luxury, reading books, dressing in fine clothes, and enjoying life in Barbados with her grandfather.  That all comes to an end when she is tragically orphaned and must move from the only home she has known, to live with relatives in the cold, foreboding shores of Connecticut Colony in New England, America.  She has always been a bit of a free thinker, a liberal, and is now thrust among people who are pious and strict.  In this stern Puritan community, the only place where Kit can escape the criticism of her uncle and the frowns of the townspeople, is in the lush meadow, where she befriends an elderly Quaker woman known as the Witch of Blackbird Pond.  She also gets to know a young sailor boy named Nat.  But Kit's friendship with the "witch" is discovered by the locals and must now deal with suspicion, irrational fear, and anger. The gossip is so rampant that even Kit herself is accused of witchcraft and must fear for her life.

APA Reference:  

Speare, E. G. (1958). The witch of Blackbird Pond. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.

My Impressions:

I read this book as a child and was entranced.  Reading it again as an adult put an added perspective on the topics raised in the book.  The issues brought about by strict religious constraints and unwillingness to accept values and customs that were different is a theme that carries through even today.  The status of women in the 1600s is worth noting as well.  The frenzied behavior generated from irrational fear is also still present in today’s America.

Professional Review:

The Witch of Blackbird Pond. By Elizabeth George Speare.

'Hurt masterfully reads this Newbery

award winner, set in seventeenth-century

Puritan New England. Orphan Kit Tyler

sails to the Connecticut colony to live with

her aunt and uncle, but despite earnest

attempts to belong, her behavior is unacceptable

by Puritan standards. Criticized by

the community, Kit seeks solace with a

kindly old Quaker woman. Hurt’s youthful

voice and soft New England accent perfectly

match Kit’s buoyant personality and

well-meaning antics. Hurt’s perception of

the story enables her to shift seamlessly

among characters, and she ably portrays

everyone, including Kit’s soft-spoken aunt

and her terse, unforgiving uncle. The villager’s

talk of heresy is thick with suspicion,

and Hurt’s capable reading accentuates

this sense of foreboding." —Anna Rich

[Review of the book The witch of Blackbird Pond, by E. G. Speare].  (2002, November 1). Booklist,
 99(5). 518.  Retrieved from http://www.booklist.com.

Library Uses:

This book could create a lot of discussion among middle school children and young adults while discussing American history or the topic of religious freedom.  Colonial America in the 1600s held many different views on religion and customs;  women’s rights were basically non-existent;  and legends superstitions ruled the thoughts of the Puritan people who feared witchcraft more than any other “threat” they had to face.  This would be a good introduction to a study on the Salem Witch Trials as well.

Books on related topics could be set up as a display or introduced to children through book talks.