Children's books for Thanksgiving 🦃

Can we read? Special edition: Thanksgiving

Regret is a time machine to the past.
Worry is a time machine to the future.
Gratitude is a time machine to the present.

No one books my travel for me.
I decide where I want to go.

(From “Time Piece,” by Andrea Gibson, from her book, You Better Be Lightning)

I’m incredibly grateful for your time and attention, and the space in your inbox and your life, no matter how small.

Giving the children in your world — whether they’re in your home, classroom, library, or any other space — the gift of books and reading is priceless, irreplaceable, and lasts a lifetime. Even when it’s hard, even when it’s imperfect.

You are doing an absolutely amazing job, so thank you for that, too.

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Keepunumuk: Weeâchumun's Thanksgiving Story by Danielle Greendeer Anthony Perry, and Alexis Bunten, illustrated by Garry Meeches Sr. (2022)

In this truly welcome addition to Thanksgiving reading, Greendeer, a citizen of the Mashpee Wampanoag Nation, offers readers of all ages the story of Weeâchumun, corn, and Keepunumuk, the first Thanksgiving.

The story is based on questions Maple and Quill — two children from the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, ask their N8hkumuhs, their grandmother. It begins when “new people” arrive, an event that causes many of the First Peoples to pass on to the Spirit World, and moves into the story most of us are familiar with, only from the Wampanoag perspective, including the viewpoints of The Three Sisters — corn and beans and squash — as well as Fox, who communicates with the seeds and later, the plants themselves.

While the text, along with Meeches’ muted, sometimes even sculptural acrylic illustrations, conveys the help the First Peoples provided the newcomers and a sense of cooperation between the groups, the emphasis here is on the important — actually life-and-death role — played by the animals and plants, who, N8hkumuhs says, are the beings who truly made the first harvest possible.

It’s a huge — and, I think, beneficial, even enchanting — shift from any narrative published in picture books until now. I highly recommend sharing this one with as many readers as possible, if not adding it to your permanent Thanksgiving collection.

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Twelve Dinging Doorbells by Tameka Fryer Brown, illustrated by Ebony Glenn (2022)

In this cheerful book that successfully straddles fall and winter holidays, Fryer Brown’s clever riff on the famous “Twelve Days of Christmas” is a fun, fresh way to kick off the season.

Here we see — in Glenn’s bright, lively, masterfully collaged illustrations — a large, boisterous family gathering from near and far, preparing a meal. There’s a lot going on — from “ten clumsy dancers” to “six toddlers squealing” to “three posh sibs, two selfie queens, and a sweet potato pie just for me” — and the chaos and hilarity build, as in the traditional version, from one to 12, counting backwards each time, until the little girl whom all this actions centers around ends up on the front stoop, sharing a quiet moment alone with her grandmother.

I love many classics — especially around these late-year holidays — but there is something to be said for refreshing these (see my 2021 review of Over the River and Through the Woods: A Holiday Adventure by Linda Ashman, which does the same). There is comfort in tradition, to be sure, but sometimes good things come from old books (or poems or songs or movies or whatever!), freshly baked.

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Sharing the Bread: An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving Story by Pat Zietlow Miller, illustrated by Jill McElmurry (2015)

This review first appeared in my 2020 special edition on Thanksgiving — I have edited and updated it here.

This is my favorite Thanksgiving book of all time, bar none. From the moment I first discovered it (at the library, of course) several years ago, I knew I needed to look no further for a Thanksgiving title that would satisfy me more than this one does.

Like most, if not really all, Thanksgiving stories, this is one about preparing a feast — a family comes together to cook and eat and remember what they’re grateful for — but what sets this one apart is two-fold: the simple yet profound rhythmic text that sounds like putting one foot in front of the other (it’s absolutely poetry), and the warm, unpretentious illustrations that have a lovely homespun feel.

Combined, those two forces come together to present a gratifying meal of a book (what, you thought I’d do a Thanksgiving issue without multiple food puns?) that holds appeal for all ages.

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Over the River & Thro’ the Woods, illustrated by Normand Chartier (1987)

This review first appeared in my 2020 special edition on Thanksgiving — I have edited and updated it here.

There are, of course, many versions of this poem by Lydia Maria Child, originally published in 1884. Though Christopher Manson beautifully illustrates the other version I adore, this one ultimately wins my heart with Chartier’s adorable watercolor illustrations of a bunny family heading over the river and through the woods. (I am a total sucker for any kind of adorable illustrated bunny.)

There are, it should also be mentioned, modernized versions of this poem, some of which are excellent, but since I am usually a purist (and certainly a purist when it comes to poetry, which probably surprises no one), I stick to the original poem, preserved here in most of its entirety — just perfectly paced and pleasant, well-known and well-loved.

Have I mentioned its adorable illustrated bunnies? 🐇

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Thanku: Poems of Gratitude edited by Miranda Paul, illustrated by Marlena Miles (2019)

In her poem, “All This,” Liz Garton Scanlon writes:

Even when the world is dark and cold
there is all this to be grateful for…

And that sentiment sums up this lovely collection perfectly. The poems here — each by a different author but complemented by Miles’ soft digital illustrations — are written by diverse authors and cover a range of subjects using a variety of forms, but the one thread ties them all together is the call to say thank you: thank you for the big things, the small things, all the things in our lives we are lucky to have and experience and be part of.

This accessible anthology is as perfect for those who are just starting out with poetry as it is for those of us for whom poetry is braided into our days — a rich read all year round, but especially during this season.

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How to Love the World: Poems of Gratitude and Hope edited by James Crews (2021)

Two poetry books in one issue? I know, but when I thought of leaving out this outstanding collection edited by Crews, I just couldn’t: not only is it too beautiful, it’s a title with immensely wide appeal, beginning with children as young as ten all the way up to adults (this is an adult book, in case that’s not obvious from the cover). And honestly, is there in a single person among us, at any age, who cannot benefit from gratitude and hope?

This is a book to pull out and dip into over breakfast, during quiet evening moments, or to keep on your bedside table to read one or two poems before sleep. If you can share this one — chock-full of stunning poetry from a wide vareity of authors, many very well-known and others less so — with the children in your life, wonderful, you’ll all benefit. But this is also a book just for you, to attend to the beauty of the world that still exists and to help you be grateful for and astonished by it, which is simply another kind of prayer.

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If I have reviewed any of these titles in the past, I’ve linked to those here.

Also highly recommended

• Over the River and Through the Woods: A Holiday Adventure by Linda Ashman

• All of Me: A Book of Thanks by Molly Bang

• A Turkey for Thanksgiving by Eve Bunting

• Apple Cake: A Gratitude by Dawn Casey

• Gracias the Thanksgiving Turkey by Joy Cowley

• Feast for 10 by Cathryn Falwell

• 1621: A New Look at Thanksgiving by Catherine O’Neill Grace and Margaret M. Bruchac (nonfiction)

• Around the Table That Grandad Built by Melanie Heuiser Hill

• I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie by Alison Jackson

• The Most Thankful Thing by Lisa McCourt

• Gracias · Thanks by Pat Mora

• Brother Sun, Sister Moon: Saint Francis of Assisi’s Canticle of the Creatures reimagined by Katherine Paterson (this is a revised Christian prayer)

• Thanks to the Animals by Allen J. Sockabasin

• Giving Thanks: A Native American Good Morning Message by Chief Jake Swamp

• May We Have Enough To Share by Richard Van Camp

• Thankful by Elaine Vickers

Poetry

• The Circle of Thanks: Native American Poems and Songs of Thanksgiving by Joseph Bruchac

• Thanksgiving Day at Our House: Thanksgiving Poems for the Very Young by Nancy White Carlstrom

• Thanks a Million by Nikki Grimes

• Giving Thanks: Poems, Prayers, and Praise Songs of Thanksgiving edited by Katherine Paterson

Especially for babies and toddlers

• Pookie’s Thanksgiving by Sandra Boynton

• Where is Baby’s Turkey? by Karen Katz

• Tiny Blessings for Giving Thanks by Amy Parker

• You Are My Pumpkin Pie by Amy E. Sklansky

• Five Silly Turkeys by Salina Yoon

General books about saying and giving thanks

• Thank You, Mr. Panda by Steve Antony

• The Thank You Letter by Jane Cabrera

• Ten Thank-You Letters by Daniel Kirk

• The Thank You Book by Mary Lyn Ray

• Curious George Says Thank You by Margret and H.A. Rey

Everything else

• Turkey Pox by Laurie Halse Anderson

• The Thanksgiving Door by Debby Atwell

• The Firefighters’ Thanksgiving by Maribeth Boelts

• Don’t Let Auntie Mabel Bless the Table by Vanessa Brantly Newton

• One Potato, Two Potato by Cynthia DeFelice

• Spuds by Karen Hesse

• Thanksgiving for Emily Ann by Teresa Johnston

• Potatoes, Potatoes by Anita Lobel

• Giving Thanks by Jonathan London

• Katie Woo Saves Thanksgiving by Fran Manushkin

• Thanks for Thanksgiving by Julie Marks

• 1, 2, 3 Thanksgiving! by W. Nikola-Lisa (a nice counting book)

• The Thankful Book by Todd Parr

• Rivka’s First Thanksgiving by Elsa Okon Rael

• Thanksgiving Treat by Catherine Stock

• Too Many Turkeys by Linda White

• Bear Says Thanks by Karma Wilson

And here is a PDF download of this whole list, for your convenience:

Can We Read Books For Thanksgiving (2023)

128KB ∙ PDF file

Download

Download

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May you have the eyes to see all the blessings that surround you, big and small.

Happy Thanksgiving,
Sarah