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Thanksgiving
People have been giving thanks at harvest time for thousands of years. Ancient Greece had a festival and brought gifts to the shrine of Demeter, the goddess of the harvest. The Romans had a similar festival, but their goddess of the harvest was named Ceres. The Hebrews had the Feast of the Booths. The Christians in Europe said prayers to bless the plantings and reaping of the harvest. When white people first came to North America the Native Americans had many harvest festivals such as “Green Corn Thanksgiving” and “Strawberry Thanksgiving”.
Our first American national day of thanksgiving was proclaimed by our first president, George Washington, to give thanks for winning our freedom from England in the American Revolution. But it didn’t become an annual holiday until 1863, when President Lincoln declared the last Thursday in November to be Thanksgiving. He hoped it would bring a nation—that was broken in two by the civil war—together in a spirit of unity. Today we come together with family and friends in that same spirit.
Fiction
- It’s Thanksgiving* by Jack Prelutsky
- Gracias, the Thanksgiving Turkey* by Joy Cowley
- The Table Where Rich People Sit* by Byrd Baylor
- Molly’s Pilgrim^ by Barbara Cohen
- Beauty and the Beaks: A Turkey’s Cautionary Tale
by Mary Jane & Herm Auch
- Amelia Bedelia Talks Turkey by Herman Parish
- The Secret of Saying Thanks by Douglas Wood
- Just So Thankful by Mercer Mayer
- Thanks for Thanksgiving by Julie Markes
- The Firefighter’s Thanksgiving by Maribeth Boelts
- The Perfect Thanksgiving by Eileen Spinelli
- The Littlest Pilgrim by Brandi Dougherty
- Thanksgiving at the Tappleton’s by Eileen Spinelli
- The Know-Nothings Talk Turkey by Michele Spirn
- Minnie & Moo and the Thanksgiving Tree
by Denys Cazet
- Thanksgiving Turkey Trouble by Abby Klein (chpt)
- Thanksgiving on Thursday by Mary Pope Osborne (Magic Tree House - chpt)
- The Story of Thanksgiving* by Robert Merrill Bartlett
Non-Fiction or Informational
- Sarah Morton’s Day: A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Girl by Kate Waters
- Mayflower 1620: A New Look at a Pilgrim Voyage
by National Geographic
- 1621: A New Look at Thanksgiving
by National Geographic
- Squanto: Friend of the Pilgrims
by Clyde Robert Bulla
- Squanto and the First Thanksgiving by Joyce Kessel
- The First Thanksgiving by Linda Hayward
- Pilgrims by Mary Pope Osborne & Natalie Boyce
(Magic Tree House Non-Fiction)
- The First Thanksgiving
by Susan Whitehurst (The Library of the Pilgrims)
- This is the Feast by Diane Z. Shore
* also listed on the monthly flyer
^ previously read on StoryLine
Click here for a pdf version of the monthly flyer.
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