5 comments about Thanks & Giving Book and CD: All Year Long.

1. "Thanks and Giving" contains a nice collection of stories, poems, and songs. The songs all need a piano, so we've not tried them. The stories & poems range from 1 to 3 pages and appropriate for a 2nd grade reading level or above. Some of the stories are nice, some are funny, some hit you over the head with the authors message, some are re-writes of very old stories that may or may not appeal, and "Teeny Meany" makes the villian sound too appealing. Overall, this is a nice bed-time book for children old enough to look at one picture for a few minutes while Mom (or child) reads 200 to 400 words. Most stories have a message that can be discussed. Unfortunately, the title & cover do not appeal to children. In my opinion, this book is "Good" quality but not "Excellent".



2. I loved THANKS & GIVING: ALL YEAR LONG, edited by Marlo Thomas and Christopher Cerf . . . and you will too, particularly if you have a young child or grandchild who never tires of a bedtime
   story.
   
   Yet that said, I should add that this book is also a joy for adults--if for just the magnificent illustrations from a variety of artists . . . the range of contributors is likewise impressive:
   from Shel Silverstein to Donald Trump and including Deepak Chopra, Paul Newman, and Whoopi Goldberg among others.
   
   You can read THANKS & GIVING straight through or do as I did; i.e., skip around . . . I guarantee that it will put a smile on your face, as well as anybody else you might choose to share it with--and I do encourage you to share it for maximum enjoyment.
   
   There were several memorable passages; among them:
   (from "Aunt Delia's Holiday Manners Quiz by Delia Ephron) It's time to go home. What's the best way to show everyone how much you love them?
   
   Give them each a big hug and a kiss and thank Aunt Delia for the delicious dinner. Say, "Some Thanksgiving. The only thing I liked was the white meat turkey." Say, "So long, Aunt Delia, Uncle Jerry, Grandma, Grandpa, Matt, Michelle, and Baldie. See you at Christmas. Bring big presents."
   
   (from "Thank you, Mrs. Abruzzi" by Ray Romano) When I was a kid, my father told me over and over again how important it was for me to get a good education. "Knowledge is power!" he would
   bellow. Whenever we talked about school or college, he'd scream it:
   "Knowledge is power!"
   
   Then he found out how much a college education costs. "On the other hand," he decided, "what you don't know won't hurt you!"
   
   (from "Presents I Have Known" by Frankie Muniz) STUPIDEST PRESENT I EVER GOT: One birthday all I wanted was a red wagon, just like any other three-year-old. Only problem:
   I was fourteen at the time. I thought it would be cool to put stuff in it and pull it around behind my bike. Wrong. You shoulda heard by friends. "Yo, dude, what's up with the red wagon?" Talk
   about embarrassing.
   
   Marlo Thomas and Friends--her contributors--have contributed all royalties from the book to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, founded by her father, Danny Thomas, in 1962.



3. This collection of stories, reminiscences, poems, songs, from famous authors and show-biz folks hangs on a thin thread of "thankfulness" to unify its contents. Sometimes, it's just not quite enough. Good stories by JonScieszka, Whoopi Goldberg, Tiger Woods, Kate DeCamillo (Winn Dixie), and cute songs (CD is good too) redeem the weaker entries. This will be heavily promoted because its royalties go to St. Jude's Hospital and media campaign starts right after football on T-Day. It would make a nice present for your child's dentist or doctor for the waiting room--all the stories are short and sweet.



4. I am extremely disappointed with this purchase (and I just made three of them.) Last year I bought the book and the companion CD separately, so when I saw this special edition and price with the book and CD combined, I was delighted because I could afford to give both as Christmas gifts for three separate families. Boy was I embarassed yesterday when they opened up the book and tucked in the back was the "CD" with only 3 songs on it (as opposed to the nearly 20 the original has). I reread the description of this edition on Amazon's website this morning and I don't see it mentioned anywhere that the CD was so incomplete. It implies its the same CD as the companion CD. Charity or no charity, this should have been clearly explained in Amazon's description. If that was the case, I would have bought my family members ONLY the companion CD, which we've enjoyed much more than the book (which is pretty uneven, as previous reviewers have noted.) BUYER BEWARE!



5. Do you want to help a good cause? Then buy this book. It is not for us adults, but sometimes we could use some enlightning from childrens literature.

No comments about Turkey Bowl.

1 comments about Best Thanksgiving Ever.

1. A family of turkeys shows us the true meaning of Thanksgiving.
   
   In this rhyming tale of a turkey family who comes together for one of the most significant events of the year, we are treated with a story of love, laughter and the chaos of this holiday season. Tom turkey is helping to clean the house while Aunt Biddy (who arrived late last night from Denver) is resting. Everyone pitches in to prepare the meal. Then the rest of the relatives arrive and everyone is thankful for something.
   
   This book is a short and sweet reminder of why this holiday is so special: a chance to come together and to be with the ones we love. If you are looking for a good Thanksgiving story to share with your children and express why Thanksgiving is important, this is a good book to read. The illustrations are adorable and the message is clear.

No comments about Thanksgiving, What Makes It Special?.

No comments about 1621 Harvest Feast (Giving Thanks).

No comments about Happy Thanksgiving (Robin Hill School Ready-to-Read, Level 1) (Ready-to-Read. Level 1).

5 comments about The Perfect Thanksgiving.

1. An attentive little girl compares Thanksgiving at her own home and that of Abigail Archer, whose family "is perfect in every way":

   "Their turkey is plump and golden.
   Their napkins are made of lace.
   Their table is lit with candles.
   They all hold hands for grace."

   In her house, the smoke alarm wails, sister slurps and uncle burps. Instead of homemade pie with fancy whipped-cream swirls, they have a Jell-O mold that wiggles off its plate and onto the floor.

   Lighthearted paper-collage illustrations contrast the serenity of one family with the pandemonium of the other. Despite their differences, however, both families are alike in their love for one another.




2. As a teacher I try and pick books that students from all demographics can relate to. I chose this book, and afterwards was left to deal with a series of very emotional students who could not cope with the reality of not having a family like Abigail Archer's. Furthermore, a series of schoolyard brawls ensued when students from both sides of the Perfect Thanksgiving's demographic areas got in to a dispute. Ultimately, I would never suggest this volatile book for viewing by anyone under the age of 30.



3. What a perfect book to read to the kids on Thanksgiving. This book shows that we are all the same on the inside even if we are different on the outside. This is the message we need to be sending to our children. I have many nieces and nephews, lots of friends with children, and three of my own. The kids really loved this story!



4. What a nice message sent through colorful pictures, plenty of jokes, and the cutest of poems. The lesson to learn is how each of us are alike. While the kids think they are just reading an exciting new book, little do they know they are subtly learning as well. Thank you for writing this adorable book for our kids to read!



5. I checked this book out from the library for my kids and now I am buying a copy to keep.
   This book is fantastic. The message my kids got from this book is that it doesn't matter if your family isn't perfect, as long as you are together Thanksgiving is perfect. The book goes back and forth between a "perfect" family's Thanksgiving and a "not-perfect" family's Thanksgiving.
   I think it is important that children understand that no one's family is perfect, not even at Thanksgiving.
   In response to the teacher that hated the book, maybe it would have been appropriate to pre-read the book and to have some answers ready for possible questions. We think the book is great!

5 comments about Over the River and Through the Woods.

1. David Catrow is one of my favorite illustrators, and he definately puts a new spin on a classic Thanksgiving Day rhyme in this book. . .I especially love the cat!



2. My three-year old lovrd this. Nice pictures of an old-fashioned Thanksgiving, but he particularly liked the idea of a ook you could sing along to.



3. David Catrow takes a Thanksgiving classic for a wild ride! The long and stressful holiday road trip to a distant relative's home, with the car stuffed full of siblings, pets, and food, is a universal experience. In this whimsical picture book, the baby of the family escapes into a joyful, snowy Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, where characters, floats and balloons take on a life of their own. The lively and imaginative scenes keep the pace of rhythm of the text, and Catrow's cool midseason tones achieve the not-quite- fall-but-not-quite-winter effect. An ideal purchase for the car trip to Grandma's - or for the sibling whom you used to draw seat boundries with.



4. My 3 year-old son pointed out that the kids are not wearing seatbelts. Catrow draws the seatbelts, he just doesn't put them on the children. The baby is buckled in the carseat, but on the very next page is somehow climbing out the window. That upset my son, because he knows the importance of always staying buckled in. This may be nitpicking to some people, but it really concerned us. Other than that, the story is cute and well illustrated.



5. I just bought this book for my 2nd grade music classes because I've been using a copy from the library for the last 3 years, and my students all LOVE this book. The pictures have a story unto themselves: a family is driving by the Macy's parade as they leave town for their grandparents' house, the baby crawls out the window during a traffic jam, gets tossed about through the parade, rides some balloons, and ends up safely delivered to Grandmother's house just in time for the family to arrive and eat a traditional dinner together... except the baby steals the pumpkin pie. Kids just shriek with laughter when they aren't busy singing, and (most important to their music teacher) they remember the song later because they had such fun learning it. They beg to read this book again and again, but I only do it at Thanksgiving, so it's a big treat. ;-) Many thanks to the illustrator.

5 comments about Thank You, Thanksgiving.

1. Thank You Thanksgiving starts out with a family just fininshing their Thanksgiving dinner. The little girl's mother sends her to the store. As she goes on her journey is is thankful for many things such as her boots, birds singing, clounds and the park. She reaches the store and buys the whipped cream her mother needed. She takes it back to her mother and is VERY thankful for the pie with whipped cream her family now gets to share.

   This book would be a great Thanksgiving story to share with the preschool age group. My sister is 1 and she enjoyed looking at the pictures as we read her the story. It's a fairly short book that should keep young childrens attention well.

   We recommend this book to children ages 1-4. It would make a great bedtime story for little ones to hear around Thanksgiving.




2. After finishing thanksgiving dinner, a young girl's mother sends her to the store to buy some whipped cream. Along the way, she says, "Thank you" for the various things she encounters. She is thankful for her warm boots, the music that the birds make, the pretty clouds, the general store, and several other things. Most of all, she is thankful for Thanksgiving. When she returns home, her family thanks her for going to the store and getting the whipped cream like she was told. The use of repetition in this book makes it good to use with children who are just learning to read. For example, "Thank you for sending me, Mom." "Thank you, warm boots." David Milgrim does a fantastic job of using digital oil pastel to create the pictures that tell the story. The pictures are colorful and very detailed. This is a good story to read aloud during the Thanksgiving Holidays to let children know that they should be thankful for everything they have. This story will show students that they have a lot to be thankful for every day of the year, including on Thanksgiving.



3. We love the illustrations. They are vibrant, cartoony-almost a little Japanese looking. I think the illustrations are a little more intriguing than the text, which is very short. I would say that this book wouldn't hold the interest of a child over 4. That said, my kids like the pictures very much, especially the duck that follows the young girl. They are delighted every time we reach the page where the duck finds the girl's dropped scarf. They also like the the picture at the end where the duck and the rabbits share a piece of the family's pie. Cute book that is worth having.



4. I bought this book for my 28 month old son around Thanksgiving time and it quickly became one of his favorites. At first glance, the book seems deceptively simple, but there is a lot going on here. There is as much story in the illustrations as there is in the text and my son loves to talk about everything he sees happening in the pictures. The book is full of quiet humor and real gratitude for the beauty of everyday life.
   An excellent pick.



5. My 19 mos old daughter insisted on this book in a book store. Yes the language is simple, but almost too simple. The "thank you, warm boots" type text is very confusing. Are we expressing thanks to inanimate objects? Since she loved the book, I simply ad lib the text, saying "Thank you God for.... ". This makes sense for most of the pages, as does just explaining or having your child identify what is happening on each page. Read the book first and figure out how you are going to read it to your child. If you child is reading or trying to follow text, don't buy this book
   
   Definitely one of those books where the desire to be secular, pc, and nonoffensive really botches the text.

3 comments about Off to Plymouth Rock.

1. My 2 and 4 year old girls love this book. A must buy if you want to pass on the true history of the first Thanksgiving. The adventure begins as the pilgrams set sail for Plymoth Rock and continues through the long cold winter. It ends with the sharing of Thanksgiving blessings. The illustrations are marvelous. Each time you turn the page you find a lovely detail you didn't notice the last time. My 2 year old didn't want me to turn the page she was so excited by the pictures. My girls loved it so much I read it at Sunday School and to my amazement 14 four year olds sat still and listened to the entire book. Don't pass this one up!



2. Off to Plymouth Rock by Dandi Mackall is the perfect story to share with your kids at Thanksgiving. The rhyme and rhythm keep the story bouncing along. It is clever, beautiful, and educational.



3. This book tells, through rhyming verse, the story of the first Thanksgiving from the pilgrims' perspective. The book details a dangerous trip and finally arriving; building their dreams and struggling to survive the winter. Then the Native Americans offer their help. The story concludes in thanksgiving, prayer and sharing.
   
   Beautifully detailed illustrations fill the book. Some pages are a bit monochromatic, but overall the pages possess contrast and vivid colors.
   
   As a bonus, this book includes a "Read-Along Activity CD." This features five tracks, each with the author reading the story in a slightly different way. It encourages interaction with children through clapping, singing and more.
   
   What I Like: This is a highly educational book written at a child's understanding. The illustrations are great. The author does a wonderful job keeping kids' interest.
   
   What I Dislike: While the story does mention praying and believing, it never references God. This is an American holiday without solid foundations in religion, but I still think it would have been nice to include a clearer idea of the One we are thanking. Also, the CD was not what I expected. It really is intended for formal education rather than sitting down with Mom in the living room.
   
   Overall Rating: Very Good.
   
   Tanya -- Christian Children's Book Review