Here’s some books from our collection that we’ve been enjoying.

1. Cranberry Thanksgiving (1971) by Wende and Harry Devlin.

“Ah, it’s a Cranberry book!”  That’s what we say after we see the Devlins’ holiday-themed books that we’ve grown fond of.  They’re all slightly comical and sweet.  In this book, someone is after Grandmother’s secret cranberry bread recipe.  Grandmother suspects Mr. Whisker’s, the very man Maggie invited to their Thanksgiving dinner!   

2. Thanksgiving Is Here! (2003) by Diane Goode.

Here’s a feast for the eyes.  Such marvelously engaging  pictures – find the incessantly crying baby, the mystery dog, the toupee-stealing child and so forth.  It’s so lively and boisterous.  “At Grandma’s house the chairs don’t match…but we don’t mind.”     

3. Hardscrabble Harvest (1976) by Dahlov Ipcar.

From Spring to harvest time, the farmer deals with ducks in the strawberries, pigs in the clover, and a host of other animals eating his crops.  It’s narrated throughout in a bouncy rhyme:  “Chickens in the garden/ scratching up the row./ Run, farmer, run!/ Chase them with a hoe!”  All ends happily with the Thanksgiving dinner.  Lovely greens, browns, and pinks in the folksy illustrations.   

4. Thanksgiving Day (1983) by Gail Gibbons.

Here’s a Thanksgiving 101 book.  I adore Gail Gibbons.  I dig all those simple shapes and rich colors.  Just try not to laugh at the dated 70′s-style puff vests the family plays football in!

5. A Thanksgiving Wish (1999) by Michael J. Rosen, illustrated by John Thompson.  

The strength of this book is the story, a beautiful tear-jerker.  It will make you want to save all your wishbones for the night of Thanksgiving.  A Jewish family celebrates Thanksgiving for the first time after their beloved Bubbe’s death.  Dinner preparations become a disaster when the power goes out, but kind neighbors come to their rescue. 

6. Over the River and Through the Wood (1974) by Lydia Maria Child, illustrated by Brinton Turkle.

And we end with a song with this beautiful little masterpiece by Brinton Turkle.  Illustrated in an old-fashioned watercolor style, Turkle even structures his book the old-fashioned way — color spread followed by black and white (with an one-color orange border).

Over the river and through the wood –

Now grandmother’s cap I spy!

Hurrah for the fun!

Is the pudding done?

Hurrah for the pumpkin-pie!