Celebrate Thanksgiving with Books Part 3

This is my last post about Thanksgiving books. As always, my book research has led me to read lots of books I hadn't read before. I hope you enjoy them! See Part 1 and Part 2 for more.

The Thanksgiving Door by Debby Atwell

After burning their Thanksgiving dinner, an old couple head for the local café. The café is closed but the immigrant family who owns the restaurant welcomes them to dinner. Their celebration is full of food, music and dancing. In the end, the couple is grateful they burned their dinner. This is a properly thankful Thanksgiving story.

Thank You, Sarah by Laurie Halse Anderson, illustrated by Matt Faulkner

In the early 1800s, Thanksgiving was celebrated in some states but not all. At least not until Sarah Hale, a magazine editor and author, persuaded President Lincoln to transform Thanksgiving Day into a national holiday. It took lots of persistence and work for her to make it happen, but she did it!

The Firefighters’ Thanksgiving by Maribeth Boelts, illustrated by Terry Widener

A group of firefighters work to cook a Thanksgiving dinner. But calls to fires, an injured friend, and cooking disasters mess up their cooking. What will they do?

Celebrate Thanksgiving by Deborah Heiligman

This book describes the history of Thanksgiving and how it is celebrated in the United States. With large print and lots of photographs, it’s a fun book to explore.

The Very First Thanksgiving Day byRhonda Gowler Greene, illustrated by Susan Gaber

This is a cumulative story in which rhyming verses tell the events leading up to the first Thanksgiving day. The structure is interesting – it starts with the dinner, traces the Pilgrims backward to England and then returns to the dinner. The paintings on each page are beautiful.

Duck for Turkey Day by Jacqueline Jules, illustrated by Kathryn Mitter

Tuyet’s Vietnamese family is having duck rather than turkey for Thanksgiving dinner. Tuyet tries to talk her family into having the traditional turkey, but she’s unsuccessful. However, when she gets back to school, she finds many of her classmates also had untraditional Thanksgiving meals.

Squanto’s Journey by Joseph Bruchac, illustrated by Greg Shed

Squanto tells about how he was captured by the British, sold into slavery in Spain, and then returned to the New World to become a guide and friend for the colonists. The story is well told and the illustrations are beautiful.

Thanksgiving by Kathryn Kyle

This is a Wonder Books Level 2 Reader. It combines a simple history of Thanksgiving with modern day Thanksgiving. If your family is doing Thanksgiving readings, this would be perfect for an early reader.

A Pioneer Thanksgiving by Barbara Greenwood, illustrated by Heather Collins

There’s something about Thanksgiving and Christmas that makes many of us want to look back in time. We wonder about how people celebrated holidays back then. This book weaves together stories, information and activities to show the life of a pioneer family at Thanksgiving. It is the second of the Pioneer Story books.

I hope each of you has a wonderful Thanksgiving. I send my blessings.

Gail