So, here I am, planning super ahead so I don't have to think about Thanksgiving until a few weeks before it happens, rather than tracking down books in mid-October and writing this post. Of course, it also really helps that we got a stack of Thanksgiving related books from the library and have read them all recently so they are fresh in my mind!
Thanksgiving doesn't have nearly as much written about it as Christmas but there's still plenty of gems. We learned a lot reading these books (or re-learned in my case) and it was fun to share the history of the holiday with Luke!
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Arthur's Thanksgiving by Marc Brown
Luke really got into Arthur after turning 4 and so any Arthur books are a win with him. Arthur is the director for the school Thanksgiving play but can't find anyone to play the turkey! He tries to appeal to each of his friends, his parents, his little sister...nobody will do it. So, even though he thought the benefit of being the director meant that he DEFINITELY wouldn't have to be the turkey, he takes matters into his own hands. With surprising results.
Thank You, Sarah: The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving by Laurie Halse Anderson
I love books like this that tell the stories of real people but in a very kid friendly way! I've learned a surprising amount from them! (See a list of 5 favorites here!). This one is about an incredible woman who was born in 1788. She was a school teacher and worked at a women's magazine. At the time Thanksgiving had been a holiday, of sorts, that followed when the harvest was complete. But that didn't happen at the same time every year and not the whole country celebrated it. She didn't want to see it ignored so she wrote letters. To multiple US Presidents. Trying to get them to declare the 4th Thursdays in November as a nationwide holiday. And in the midst of the Civil War, President Lincoln finally said yes. It was fascinating and educational! Oh and she also wrote "Mary Had a Little Lamb" about one of her students. So saving Thanksgiving isn't even her only claim to fame.
Balloons over Broadway by Melissa Sweet
I love reading this book to Luke every year before we watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. (I'm also a sucker for working New York City into our day.) This is the story of how the Thanksgiving Day Parade came to have the massive balloons in them, when the crowds were too big for everyone to see the parade floats that weren't much taller than the crowd. The balloons first appeared in 1928 and have been there every year since, besides two years during World War II when there wasn't extra rubber and helium.
The First Thanksgiving Day by Laura Krauss Melmed
The story of the first Thanksgiving, told through counting, and to the close eye, a bit of a search. There's pilgrims getting food ready and Indians getting their food ready, then all coming together. Luke and I looked at this together and I don't think we found nearly all the items and animals hidden in the pictures!
Bear Says Thanks by Karma Wilson
Do animals celebrate Thanksgiving? Apparently they do. (But probably not turkeys.) Bear is alone and bored and in his cave when he decides to have a feast with his friends. Except he doesn't have any food! Until they all start stopping by with extras and they all learn the value of sharing and pitching in.
Sharing the Bread by Pat Zietlow Miller
Going back in history a little but not all the way back to the first Thanksgiving. This is just to the 19th century and showing how they prepared for Thanksgiving, which doesn't look a whole lot different from what we do now! They eat many of the same foods, gather with family, and are thankful for what they have. Nice way to show kids that we're all a little different and a little the same.
The Turkey Train by Steve Metzger
Maybe the turkeys don't want to be eaten, just take a vacation to Maine, aboard the turkey train! A nice rhyming book that really has nothing to do with Thanksgivin
g other than it features turkeys.
One is a Feast for a Mouse: A Thanksgiving Tale by Judy Cox
The Thanksgiving Feast is over and the Mouse that lives in the clock is hungry. So he sneaks out for just a tiny bite. Just ONE little thing. Which turns into another, and another, and another until he has a pile of food that is bigger than him! Then it all comes falling down and he realizes how little he does need, what makes a feast for him.
The Berenstain Bears and the Prize Pumpkin by Stan and Jan Berenstain
A nice book to bridge the weeks between Halloween and Thanksgiving. Farmer Ben always wins the prize for the largest pumpkin. Always. But this year Papa and the cubs want that first place for themselves. So they work on growing their pumpkin. And growing and growing. Then they take it to the fair and maybe they win, maybe they don't, but what matters most is that the pie will be delicious either way.
The Ugly Pumpkin by Dave Horowitz
A twist on The Ugly Duckling, this pumpkin has waited all October for somebody to take him home and carve him but nobody seems to want the "ugly" pumpkin. Then, as Thanksgiving nears, he finds his home, his people. Another good book to bridge Halloween and Thanksgiving!
What else should we add to our pile?
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