Saturday, November 19, 2011

Thanksgiving books...

This is an actual snipet of a conversation heard in our house earlier this evening:

Me: "Thanksgiving is so easy because we only have a few books and 3 movies."

Betsy: "Yeah, with Christmas we have like 3 books and 3 movies every day."

And this is very true. The difference between us, though, is that Betsy would end this conversation by saying, "Let's just skip some of them." Which is when I wonder how she is my kid. Because, no, we are not skipping any of them.

Thanksgiving is a lovely, easy holiday around here. The older I get, the more I love it. It is such a simple holiday. It is just about being grateful, eating, and being with your family. What's not to like?

We have a smattering of Thanksgiving books around here. (We have books for every holiday around here, from April Fool's Day to Chinese New Year.) Here are the best of the best:

1. Beyond Turkey by Debbie Herman and Ann D. Koffsky-a nice overview of the holiday, its origins and facts about it. This book also has a lot of activities included.

2. Giving Thanks by Jonathan London-a lovely book about a dad and his son walking through the woods and giving thanks. It's a nice reminder that we need to be grateful of this blessed planet that we are priviledged to live on.

3. An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving by Louisa May Alcott-we are big time "Little Women" fans around here. This story is in a similar vein.

4. The Thanksgiving Door-one of our favorites. Ed and Ann are an elderly couple who accidently burn their Thanksgiving dinner, so they go to a restaurant whose door is open. In the meantime, the family who own the restaurant don't know what to do about these people who have wandered into their Thanksgiving dinner. An excellent book about the true meaning of thanksgiving and family.

5. The Littlest Pilgrim by Brandi Dougherty. A very cute story about Mini, a pilgim girl who wants to be helpful but who is too little.

6. Thanksgiving in the Barn by Nadine Bernard Westcott-the girls would be mad if I didn't include this one, because it is their favorite. It is a pop-up book.

If you are looking for more books about the actual first Thanksgiving, I recommend The Very First Thanksgiving Day by Rhonda Gowler Greene (especially for little ones), Pilgrim Cat by Carol Antoinette Peacock, and The Magic School Bus at the First Thanksgiving (Betsy is a huge Magic School Bus fan and I highly recommend them all).

Another very nice book to add to your collection is Over the River and Through the Woods illustrated by John Stven Gurney. We only know 2 Thanksgiving songs around here-this one and "I'm Gonna Eat on Thanksgiving Day" by Laurie Berkner. (I think that it's on her Waddya Think of That CD.)

Also we have some fun books that feature characters that we love. We have them for most holidays.

Giving Thanks (Care Bears) by Quinlan B. Lee

Clifford's Thanksgiving Visit by Norman Bridwell

Just So Thankful (Little Critter) by Mercer Mayer

Blue's Thanksgiving Feast by Jessica Lissy

Happy Thanksgiving, Biscuit! by Alyssa Satin Capucilli

Our 3 Thanksgiving movies are A Peanuts Thanksgiving (a classic that everyone should own), A Garfield Thanksgiving, and A Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving. All of them are wonderful.

I am very blessed this Thanksgiving, with my amazing husband and my wonderful girls encompassing my life, and with the ability to share my life every day with my other favorite people, my parents and my sister and her family. For me, there is nothing better in this whole world.