#Review: Milly and the Macy's Parade by Shana Corey/ Illustrated by Brett Helquist #Thanksgiving #kidsbooks

Summary:
It's 1924 and the holidays are approaching. Milly lives in NYC with her Polish family and frolics daily in holiday displays at the Macy's store under the watchful eye of Mr. Macy. But Milly's family misses their homeland and traditions. In an effort to cheer people up, Milly convinces Mr. Macy to combine old country traditions with new American heritage in a celebration for all to enjoy. Everyone agrees that the resulting parade will become a wonderful new tradition. This heartwarming story beautifully captures the creation of a uniquely American event.

My review:
I have watched the Macy's Day parade since I was a child. I wait all year long to watch the parade, just like I waited all year long to review this book. Oh, yes, I did! What better time than on parade day itself.

The book begins before the parade was created with the main character, Milly, an immigrant, whose father works for Mr. Macy. She enjoys everything about Macy's department store as the first couple of pages attest to when she 'reviews' the store for the reader. The book carries through the first parade which is an idea made up by Milly to celebrate the holidays as her family and friends did in their old countries.

In the back of the book, the author notes the similarities and differences within the book and real life. Notably, that no one knows who actually gave the idea for starting the parade, but it was made up of Macy's immigrant workers. The parade ended at the Macy's department store.

Mr. Macy was never involved in any of the parades as he died prior to the first parade ever taking place. However, since it was the employees that created the parade and were loyal to the Macy's store, they named it after him. Of course, we know today that the name stuck and the rest is history!

The book is written on one side and a large picture that sprawls over two pages. The pictures are bold with darker browns, tans, and a splotch or two of muted colors.

To say that I love this book is an actually an understatement. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, this book and it will be a family go to for a long time. 5 Stars!

Disclosure: I purchased this book for my own collections. The views expressed here are 100% my own and may differ from yours. ~Naila Moon


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Review: A Plump and Perky Turkey by Teresa Bateman/ Illustrated by Jeff Shelly #Thanksgiving #kidsbooks

Summary:
Turkeys around Squawk Valley just don't jump into pots anymore -- they are way too smart for that. So the townspeople hatch a clever plan. They host a turkey-themed arts and crafts fair and lure a vain bird into town by advertising for an artist's model. Peter the Turkey, proud of his well-stuffed form, takes the bait but doesn't fall for the trap.

My review:
What is a town to do when they can't find a turkey to eat? Well, hire or trick one. The only problem is, turkeys are clever and so is this book!

I had a little chuckle watching the town's folk do a bunch of art using the model of one very smart turkey. I had hoped that the turkey would win out but did he? Well, that my friends are to be determined when you read the book.

The rhyming was well done by the author while the illustrations were great. All the pictures were done in "Thanksgiving-y" and Fall colors. They were large and humorous. On the first couple of pages the turkeys were cleverly hidden within the picture, a fun hide and seek.

A cute book that would make any family around the Thanksgiving dinner table chuckle.
5 stars!

Disclosure: I purchased this book for my own collections. The views here are 100% my own and may differ from yours. ~Naila Moon

Where to find the author:

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#Review: What Was the First Thanksgiving? by Joan Holub/Illustrated by Lauren Mortimer #Thanksgiving #kidsbooks

Summary:

The history of the feast! After their first harvest in 1621, the Pilgrims at Plymouth shared a three-day feast with their Native American neighbors. Of course, the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag didn't know it at the time, but they were making history, celebrating what would become a national holiday.

My review:

History has often been confused or muddied depending on who was in power or who was writing the history. The first Thanksgiving story is a little like that too. Before you even get into the first chapters of this book, the reader is told that "no one is sure if the Pilgrims actually invited the Native Americans to their Thanksgiving feast. Perhaps the natives heard the Pilgrims shooting their muskets and went to investigate..."

I think this is a pretty accurate statement and one that should be noted before reading this book on Thanksgiving or for that matter any book on the subject. Historians often have to piece things together to get a clear picture of things. Sometimes they get it wrong too.

In any case, and having said that, this book does give factual information that can be traced back to a resource. She does a good job of including a complete bibliography and timeline in the back of the book. 

Did you know that it was the native people brought the turkey and deer meet?

Did you know that pumpkin pie was not served?

Did you know that probably most of those in attendance stood or sat on the ground to eat?

Did you know that the Pilgrims did not wear black all the time?

All of these fascinating facts and quite more are in this book. I enjoyed the side pages that compared the Pilgrims with their Native American guest. All of these things I think help to depict the accuracy of Thanksgiving and its historical significance for the United States.

The only thing that I did not like about the book was the initial cover and back cover. I felt they were too cartoon-ish for this book but the illustrations inside were great! They included historical figure heads, maps, and even a drawing of the Mayflower.

Overall, this book gets 5 stars and a Happy Thanksgiving from me.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book for my open and honest opinion. The views expressed here are 100% my own and may differ with yours. ~Naila Moon

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#Review: Giving Thanks: A Native American Good Morning Message by Chief Jake Swamp/Illustrate by Erwin Printup, Jr.

Summary:

Giving Thanks is a special children's version of the Thanksgiving Address, a message of gratitude that originated with the Native people of upstate New York and Canada and that is still spoken at ceremonial gatherings held by the Iroquois, or Six Nations.

My Review:

If you are looking for the traditional book for Thanksgiving with turkeys and pilgrims, this is not it!
This book is a blessing of gratitude for the every day things of the Earth that we so often forget to give thanks for.

This book as told by Chief Swamp is a retelling in English of the words spoken by the native peoples of the Iroquois or Six Nations. I loved that in the back he included the Mohawk version. Although I could not begin to read or understand it, I felt it was beautiful and necessary to preserve the language of the people.

The illustrations on each page were bold and absolutely beautiful. I honestly wanted to go back and just keep looking at the pictures! They were beautifully done and paid homage to the native culture in such a lovely way.

I urge you to pick up this book to share with your families or in the classrooms, you cannot go wrong.
Oh and bonus, this is a Reading Rainbow book which means you can be reassured it is a great read for children.

5 stars without any issues...if I could, I would give it 10! 

Disclosure: I purchased a copy of this book for my own use. The views expressed here are 100% my own and may differ from yours. ~Naila Moon

Where to find the author:

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Review: More Snacks! A Thanksgiving Play by Joan Holub/Illustrated by Will Terry #Thanksgiving

Summary:

The kids of Ant Hill are putting on a play about their ancestor's first Thanksgiving-when they hopped aboard the Mayflower and sailed across the Atlantic to meet six-legged friends around a big harvest spread. Let the show begin!

My review:

This book is essentially a picture book for children who are just learning to read and recognize words. The sentences  are short with only 4 words to each sentence. The book is also in rhyme of which the author excels at. The illustrations are large with facially animated ants with pilgrim hats. All these things I liked about the book.

However, I did have a couple of issues with the book. I thought the illustrations essentially looked like the same page with only a tweak to the next. I felt that kids might not get the pictures with the words.

The other issue I had was the story itself, although a cute twist on the Thanksgiving story, I felt the "true" story of Thanksgiving may be lost on young children and not understood in the least. The idea that this was supposed to be a "play" was completely lost as soon as the first page was turned.

I usually like this author's writings but this time I think it might be a miss. In any case, I still give it a 3 star reviews for the things I wrote above. I do look for more books from this author.

Disclosure: I was given a copy of this book for my open and honest opinion. The views expressed here are 100% my own and may differ with yours. ~Naila Moon

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Review: A Turkey For Thanksgiving by Eve Bunting/Illustrated by Diane de Groat

Summary:
Mr. and Mrs. Moose invite all their animal friends for Thanksgiving dinner and the only one missing is Turkey. When they set out to find him, Turkey is quaking with fear because he doesn't realize that his hosts want him at their table, not on it.

My review:
This adorable book is a great twist on the traditional Thanksgiving dinner. All the animals are invited to sit down and have dinner but the turkey has never been invited. I can't imagine why?

I found the books illustrations to be bold and quite eye catching as I would expect from a Scholastic book. Watching Mr. Moose's interactions and search for a turkey with his animal friends was humorous enough but once they found him, I wanted to laugh out loud.

I won't give away the ending here but this book is well worth the purchase price and a great book for kids 5-8 to read alone or with family.

5 stars!
Disclosure: I purchased a copy of this book for my own use. The views expressed here are 100% my own.

Where you can find the author:

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