Happy November, MOPS moms! Now is a great time to start thinking about finding meaningful books to read to your kids about Thanksgiving so they feel more connected to this special holiday in our American tradition. While most public school children will have some of the history of this day drilled into their heads over the years while they make their construction paper turkeys and pilgrim hats, preschool children may not have had the opportunity to build the background knowledge yet. Enjoy this selection of Thanksgiving related books with your little ones this month and beyond!
Spot's Thanksgiving by Eric Hill, 2003.
This board book is great for the birth to 2 year crowd with familiar characters and a simple plot. Spot helps make a pumpkin pie for his family's Thanksgiving family gathering.
1, 2, 3 Thanksgiving by W. Nikola-Lisa, 1991.
This book combines beginning counting skills with relating what goes into preparing a Thanksgiving meal. I like the happy family represented here.
Thanksgiving Mice! by Bethany Roberts, 2001. There are several books in the "Mice" series, talking about different holidays. In this story, the mice put on a play to tell a little Thanksgiving history. The text is brief, and the illustrations are charming. There is plenty of room for discussion about what is happening on each page.
Over the River: A Turkey's Tale by Derek Anderson, 2005. Using the text for the familiar song "Over the River and Through the Woods," a family of turkeys scramble through the woods on their perilous journey to the grandparent turkeys' house, avoiding the hunter and his dog. The illustrations really help tell the story well.
This is the Turkey by Abby Levine, 2000. Following some of the repetition of the "This is the House that Jack Built" poem, this story rhymes its way through describing the preparations of a Thanksgiving dinner with a large happy family and a table full of food. But when "the turkey to shout about" is suddenly ruined, the family finds more to be thankful about than the main entree.
Thanksgiving Day by Anne Rockwell, 1999. This is my favorite preschool / early elementary information Thanksgiving book I have reviewed. A group of young school children put on a play to relate information about the first Thanksgiving. I like the inclusion of the African American family celebrating together, as well as the less stereotyped depiction of the Native Americans that the Pilgrims encountered. Thankfully, however, the information is not too deep, so younger readers will not lose interest.
I hope you all will find many things to be thankful for during this season, whether you have large families to celebrate with or small intimate dinners instead. We have many things going for us, if we look hard enough. Let's help our kids remember those good things, no matter our current circumstances.
Tune in for my next blog entry, when I will review some of the fun Christmas books available on the market today!
--Emily Hawkins
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