Some Three Hundred Years Ago

Beside the Piscataqua River in 1603, Nonowit hides in a hollow oak as unfamiliar sailors come ashore. His fear supplies the opening scene of Edith Gilman Brewster's historical stories for children, set in early New Hampshire. The dedication explains her aim: to imagine children's lives amid events from the state's past. Chapters arranged from 1603 to 1697 move through fishing, settlement, trade and the dangers of life near the forest.

Household details give the history a child's scale. Cynthia and little John encounter a bear while carrying molasses, and Hannah Puddington hears neighbors blame illness on witchcraft in Portsmouth. Boats returning with fish, changing styles of houses and a cat wandering through the woods connect public events with ordinary routines. The collection offers readers of children's historical fiction a view of how local history was made into short adventures, while also revealing the period attitudes of its storyteller.