Tea & A Good Book Brewing- Installment 41, Thanksgiving Books for Children

When I push the little orange "publish" button up in the corner of my screen tonight, and send this post spiralling out into the vast stratosphere of the World Wide Web, it will officially be my 100th published post!!!

Hurray for the all-inspiring number 100!!!

I briefly thought that maybe I should make a list of 100 children's books in order to celebrate, but that notion lasted about 5 seconds.

I may be a certified night owl, but even I want to get to bed before daybreak!!!

Therefore, I decided on the number 10, which is neatly related to 100, and even looks a little like it...just missing one little zero, that's all!

Since we are in the month of November (how, I am still trying to figure out!) my mind naturally went to the special holiday of the month as I considered which children's books to review.

The other thing that got me on this track was that a friend of mine asked me on Sunday if I had any good Thanksgiving books to recommend for her to read to her co-op class of 1-3 graders.

I hate coming up blank when someone asks for a book recommendation, but that's exactly what happened, since I don't think I own any, and I had only a vague memory of one I found at the library last year!

There was only one thing to do: go browsing for books (which only happens to be one of my favorite hobbies!!!)

The following selections came both off the shelves of my library and via interlibrary loan, and some of them I found through Amazon's Best Sellers in Children's Thanksgiving Books, which, I am pleased to announce has 100 selections, so I got my number 100 after all, without all the work of compiling it myself!

1. The Story of the Pilgrims, by Katharine Ross and illustrated by Carolyn Croll.

This book is a very simple, basic story about the Pilgrims and their life in the new world, which eventually culminates in a friendship with the Indians and a shared Thanksgiving feast. One thing I can appreciate, even in a simple story, is when the author does not romanticize life from those days too much, and this book talks about what a terrible winter the Pilgrims had- with dark days bleak and bitter cold- which, I think, makes the reason behind the first Thanksgiving more meaningful.


2. Thanksgiving With Me, by Margaret Willey and illustrated by Lloyd Bloom

This book has a very silly aspect to it, and I wasn't even sure if it was worth putting down here, but it's so lyrical and grandiose, that it's a lot of fun to read, and it includes the joy of something we all look forward to at Thanksgiving: getting together with family! 

I am sure any child will identify with the breathless anticipation:

"Sit down, Mother, and tell me again.

When are my uncles coming? When?"

3. Three Young Pilgrims, by Cheryl Harness

Out of the stack that I brought home from the library, this one is my favorite! The storyline follows three pilgrim children, Bartholomew, Remember, and Mary as they arrive in the new world, and face the joys and troubles (including the deaths of their mother and her new baby) of their new homeland. The illustrations are rich and full of details, so if you have a child who likes to pour over pictures and read little notations and extra details on some of the pages, this is the Thanksgiving book for you!   

4. Oh, What a Thanksgiving, by Steven Kroll and illustrated by S.D. Schindler

This is the only book in this review that I had any previous experience with, and I was glad to find it again at the library on vague memories alone! In the story, David has a vivid imagination and when his teacher, Mr. Sanderson, describes the first Thanksgiving, David knows exactly what it would have been like to be there. The trouble is, the first Thanksgiving seems a lot more exciting than the one his parents have planned! I think the book does a good job tying "then and now" together, and David's conclusion that we share some of the same important components as the first Thanksgiving, is a satisfying one.

5. Molly's Pilgrim, by Barbara Cohen and illustrated by Michael J. Deraney

Molly's Pilgrim is another non-traditional Thanksgiving tale, and one that has a very poignant message about "modern day pilgrims" that I found very appealing. 

6. The Plymouth Thanksgiving, by Leonard Weisgard

This book tells the traditional story of the pilgrims and Indians and the first Thanksgiving with an old style of pictures and verse, but I enjoyed looking through it and I think it's a fair representation of life in the day. The book is somewhat long, but that does mean it includes some interesting parts of the story that are often omitted in the interest of keeping things short.

7. A Thanksgiving Wish, by Michael J. Rosen and paintings by John Thompson

This book became a fast favorite of mine when I tested it out on my two guinea pigs, Elasa and Gavin, and it has two things going for it: a very sweet storyline of a girl's affection for her Bubbe and the special Thanksgiving feasts they shared at her house, and beautiful paintings that put you in mind of Norman Rockwell!   

"Thanksgiving is the biggest holiday of the year for Amanda's grandmother Bubbe. Every year Amanda's family and all the relatives travel to Bubbe's house for her giant tom turkey, stuffing made from her own braided challah, and enough pumpkin pies for each family to take one home. But this year Bubbe is no longer with them, and everyone wonders if the holiday can ever be the same. When the power in Amanda's house goes out unexpectedly during the meal preparation, it looks as if there may not even be a Thanksgiving. But help is on the way, and this turns out to be a very special Thanksgiving after all."

I like how this books is not your traditional thanksgiving tale, but rather gives a picture of memorable family traditions that are passed from one generation to the next.

8. Thanksgiving on Thursday, by Mary Pope Osborne

If any of you are familiar with the Magic Tree House series of historical fiction for children, this book is # 27 in that series. Elasa has read several in the past and enjoyed them to a point, but she said today that some of them are scary, with things like mummies and such like in them, so she was a little hesitant about this book! I told her that I didn't think this book had any of that in it, and in my perusal of it I didn't turn up anything more than the expected Pilgrims and Indians! Since we are not doing a history curriculum this year, I thought it might be fun to go through this book together, using the nonfiction companion that goes with it, which is my next selection...    

9. Pilgrims,  A Nonfiction Companion to Thanksgiving on Thursday, by Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie Pope Boyce

I never knew, previous to seeing this book, that Magic Tree House produces research guides with at least some of their books, but I am impressed with this little book and think it looks like a fun way to learn some real facts about the Pilgrims, Indians, Plymouth, ect. The book has some very nice illustrations, biographical profiles, and applications to present day.  

10. I sailed on the Mayflower: The True Story of a Pilgrim Youngster, by Roger Pilkington

This book is definitely for the junior reader who doesn't mind multiple chapters (11, to be precise) small type and few pictures. I didn't have time to read it, as I just brought it home from the library yesterday, but I feel pretty confident from what I've seen in skimming it that it would be a worthy and interesting read for children who enjoy stories from history.  The story is told in first person, from the perspective of a boy, and looks like a good adventure story... with the bonus perk of being seasonal! 

This stack of books- and the availability of many more- reminds me again of how thankful I am for the written word!!! There are just so many lovely, fascinating, interesting and informative books out there, and I am amazed time and time again by what a treasure we have in them.

And you'll have to excuse me if I say that 100 times!!!