Book Club: Thanksgiving-Themed Books for Children

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Searching for books about Thanksgiving for our children has been quite fun. There are a variety of options for books to read during our homeschool days – from board books to chapter storybooks. One could also include unit studies to learn more about Thanksgiving, too. And if a unit study or course is too much to include during the month of November, there are plenty of options to include fun Thanksgiving-themed worksheets into your homeschool day. There is plenty of time to discuss the history of Thanksgiving and remember to focus upon gratefulness, too, this month.

Finding Books 

The Story of Thanksgiving by Nancy J. Skarmeas and illustrated by Stacy Venturi-Pickett 

This is a lovely little board book that introduces both vocabulary and the story of Thanksgiving to toddlers. Children can curl up on their parent's lap and hear about the journey of the Pilgrims on the Mayflower and how Squanto helped them grow native foods. The Story of Thanksgiving ends with a reminder to thank God for our families, our food, and our homes.

Life on the Mayflower by Jessica Gunderson and illustrated by Brian Caleb Dumm 

Children start with the sailing of the Mayflower and journey with the Pilgrims across the Atlantic Ocean. Subdued colors in the illustrations help tell the autumn tale of the Pilgrims, why they were called Separatists, how they entertained themselves during the time in the lower deck, as well as what happened when John Howland was thrown overboard. I appreciated the timeline of key dates, the strange but true facts, and the glossary at the end of the book. Perfect for helping take the story one step further in our homeschool. 

Today is Thanksgiving! by P.K. Hallinan

This is a fun book that details the events of Thanksgiving Day, as seen through the eyes of two young children – a brother and a sister. On Thanksgiving Day, the siblings reminisce about the Pilgrims' first Thanksgiving, smell the wonderful scents of potatoes, turkey, and pie in the kitchen, and watch a parade on television. What Thanksgiving day would not be complete without a game of football and loads of family arriving for dinner? 

Pilgrim Cat by Carol Antoinette Peacock and illustrated by Doris Ettlinger 

After a journey to Plimoth Plantation and the discovery of a cat, the author decided to share the imagined story of one cat, named Pounce, who sailed on the Mayflower with the Pilgrims. The main character of Pilgrim Cat is a fictional one based upon real-life girls who journeyed to America. This tale will help your homeschooled children learn about the voyage as well as what life was like once the Pilgrims arrived in America. The Wampanoag Natives help the Pilgrims after they have set up their village and play a central role in the story. During all this Pounce gets into trouble and then disappears! Don't worry, there is a happy ending. 

The Thanksgiving Story by Alice Dalgliesh and illustrated by Helen Sewell 

This children's Thanksgiving book is a 1955 Caldecott Honor Book that starts with both the Mayflower and the Speedwell leaving England. It makes for a great inclusion to help children see the whole story of the Pilgrims. It also features the story of the Hopkins family, who had an addition to their family during the voyage – Oceanus Hopkins was born. The story closes with a time of Thanksgiving depicting the Pilgrims giving thanks to God.

Sarah Gives Thanks by Mike Allegra and illustrated by David Gardner 

We read this book last year, too. I love sharing the story of Sarah Josepha Hale with our children. She provides such a fine example as a determined American. I am very grateful that she persisted after several presidents did not listen to her request to make Thanksgiving a national holiday. How very fitting that it would be Abraham Lincoln who issued the proclamation for a national day of thanksgiving. It may have taken her 36 years, but I am very thankful that we have this wonderful holiday. 

Unit Studies and Useful Resources to Study Thanksgiving 

My Teaching Library 

There are 38 available downloads featuring Thanksgiving from My Teaching Library. You can very easily incorporate some fun word searches, memory verses, vocabulary activities, or even a game of bingo into your homeschool day. There are even two Roman Numerals downloads available that feature Thanksgiving-like mazes that require your homeschooling children to convert Arabic numerals to Roman numerals and back. I printed out several for our son because he has been wanting to learn Roman Numerals.

SchoolhouseTeachers.com 

One of my favorite curriculum sites offers holiday and seasonal resources, including a wide selection of fall-themed lessons, Canadian Thanksgiving lessons, American Thanksgiving lessons, and Thankfulness and Gratitude lessons. From art lessons on how to draw a maple leaf or turkey to writing prompts and copywork, you can find a variety of lessons and activities to help fill out your homeschool days leading up to Thanksgiving. There is even a selection of math games based. And if you want to study the history of more than just Thanksgiving, History of Holidays in America will let your elementary student learn about 20 holidays. 

Reviewing MESSYLEARNING FOR PRESCHOOLERS AND KINDERGARTNERS from PandaParents

Our family is reviewing MESSYLEARNING FOR PRESCHOOLERS AND KINDERGARTNERS from PandaParents. We decided to primarily use the program with our daughter who turned three in mid-April. There is one course per month where children will read, watch, and create as they "discover the world with M.E.S.S.Y. Learning." We are reviewing an electronic version of their program so we have printed the necessary materials.

Each course has the same components

• Read the story
• Watch the story 
• Activity-time – using the workbook to create and learn

The activities included are meant to "build complex brain functions and fine motor skills" through the following: 

1. Story recall and thinking activities 
2. Reading, writing, and tracing 
3. Sequence and matching games
4. Counting, math, and writing numbers
5. Completing patterns, sorting colors, and shapes 

How We Are Using MESSYLEARNING FOR PRESCHOOLERS AND KINDERGARTNERS

Our daughter has been eagerly asking each day to work on her 'school work' for her "bear program" as she calls it, like her older brother. We started out using the Christmas-themed book, videos, and workbook. This set focused upon the letter "J" - A Jolly Jingling Journey.

The book, which we read on our tablet, A Jolly Jingling Journey actually contains two stories: A Jubilant Surprise and An Epic Journey both featuring Davy, his pets, and Santa. In the first story, A Jubilant Surprise, Davy dreams of going to the North Pole and following signs to reach Santa's cabin. On the journey, children are introduced to a variety of words that start with the letter J such as jingle, jolly, Jet, jubilant, joyfully, and jump. In An Epic Journey, Davy and Santa travel to find the missing reindeer.

You can see a preview of the book here:

After reading the story, we watched the two videos that accompanied this lesson. In the first video, children are introduced to a Juggler who juggles candy canes that look like the letter "J." The second video is a retelling of the book – A Jolly Jingling Journey – and includes some of the activities that children will complete in the workbook such as the counting the reindeer.

Between reading the book and watching the videos, our daughter and I worked on the pages in the workbook. We did not work through it in order. Instead, I skipped around to try to do activities I felt she could do more easily at first and then we tried completing some of the worksheets that would be more difficult for a young three-year-old.







In the accompanying video, I flip through some of her completed worksheets for A Jolly Jingling Journey workbook.

We have also started working our way through a second month's lessons that focus upon Scotty the Skunk and the letter "S." In this story, our daughter followed the journey of Scotty as he searches for a quiet home during the four seasons.

Some of the "S" words in addition to skunk that are used include scare, snow, smile, spring, splendid, and storm. The story enabled us to have a conversation about summer storms and lightning as poor Scotty is sleeping under a tree when it is struck by lightning and thunder wakes him with a loud boom.

Included in the Scotty Hears a Sound a Scary Sound workbook are similar activities to those in the A Jolly Jingling Journey workbook such as pages that address recall of the story and practicing tracing the letter. Another focus is the idea of home or habitat as Scotty spends the story looking for a safe place to live.

Another fun activity included in the Scotty Hears a Sound a Scary Sound workbook is a sailboat craft. Our daughter had a lot of fun using the various materials I gathered for her to build her own sailboat out of 2 triangles and a trapezoid.

In this video, I flip through some of the pages our three-year-old and four-year-old completed in the Scotty Hears a Sound a Scary Sound workbook.

What We Like 

Our daughter enjoys the videos immensely. In fact, as I was downloading and playing them for the first time, she came running over to see what was on my laptop. The sound really caught her attention. She loves talking about the different characters in them.

She also loves completing the worksheets from the workbook that accompany the book and video. We are using the two pages in the front of the book (the stickers) for some of the worksheets. She loves cutting and pasting the pictures and numbers. I think this is actually a bonus over the fact that we do not have the printed workbooks.

Everyday she asks me when she can work on her "bear program" or PandaParents. (She calls it both names interchangeably.) She loves that she can use our tablet to watch the videos and read the books.

We all like the:

• Colorful videos 
• Variety of activities through the workbook 
• Theme for each month's lesson 
• Inclusion of a variety of subjects - math, reading, writing, art, and science
• The flexibility that allows me to continue the lesson ideas beyond the worksheets provided 

Continuing a lesson on patterns from A Jolly Jingling Journey

Our Reservations  

The downside to not have the printed workbooks or storybooks is that we need to print everything or read it on the computer or tablet. The workbook and storybook are very colorful so if we were to print them in full color, we would use a lot of ink.

One of the pages from A Jolly Jingling Journey workbook

Even though the art style is not something I would gravitate to myself, our three-year-old daughter and four-year-old son are enjoying the videos, storybooks, and workbooks. I have to remind myself that my children and I will like different things and that is okay. So that is one lesson as a parent that I am taking away from reviewing PandaParents for myself.

• Need to print items ourselves – we lack a color printer so everything is black and white 
• Artwork is not necessarily my preferred style 
• Our daughter seemed to complete the workbook very quickly 
• No explicit directions to the parents – and I am someone who loves directions! 
• Portrayal of snakes as sneaky and scary – we love all reptiles in our house and I do not like perpetuating the myth that snakes are bad animals 

Our daughter is looking forward to completing Scotty Skunk Hears a Scary Sound and starting on Mommy's Baby lessons.

You can read more reviews from the Homeschool Review Crew!