Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday full of family, food, fun and thankfulness. There are so many great Thanksgiving books to entertain kids while teaching them about this holiday. I wrote about several Thanksgiving books this month, but there are so many more that I couldn’t get to yet! This is a list of even more awesome Thanksgiving books that I recommend adding to your collection. So curl up under some warm blankets, grab some yummy snacks (or leftovers) and enjoy some family reading time!
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Thanksgiving Books about History
Thank You, Sarah: The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving
Written by Laurie Halse Anderson and illustrated by Matt Faulkner
This book tells the remarkable true story of Sarah Hale. She was a writer and magazine editor who didn’t like that Thanksgiving wasn’t being celebrated anymore around the country. Sarah wanted everyone to celebrate the holiday together. She wrote to president after president, trying to get them to make Thanksgiving a national holiday. Finally, Abraham Lincoln listened, and today we have a national day of thanks! This story not only introduces kids to an important woman in history, but also provides a lesson on perseverance!
Balloons over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy’s Parade
Written by Melissa Sweet
This story takes readers through the life of Tony Sarg, the man who created the balloons in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. If the Macy’s parade is a tradition in your family, I recommend adding this book to your library! The story takes readers through Sarg’s life, from the time he was a boy interested in how all things move. This is a great book for it’s information on a beloved holiday tradition and a reminder to kids that anything is possible! The little boy playing with puppets in his home could never have imagined we would be watching his parade balloons every Thanksgiving from around the country!
One Little, Two Little, Three Little Pilgrims
Written by B.G. Hennessy and illustrated by Lynne Avril Cravath
This book is a simple introduction to the First Thanksgiving for young children. The author uses a familiar format to introduce kids to activities performed by pilgrim and Wampanoag Indian children. They plant crops, hunt and prepare food to share together. Kids will love the bright illustrations and will recognize the many foods they are preparing.
Check out these fun Thanksgiving books all about turkeys!
Thanksgiving Books about Food and Family
One is a Feast for Mouse: A Thanksgiving Tale
Written by Judy Cox and illustrated by Jeffrey Ebbeler.
This book tells the tale of a mouse gathering leftovers from a family’s delicious Thanksgiving feast. What starts as simply gathering one pea, becomes a tale of greed as the mouse builds a tower of food. Kids will like the repeating nature of the story while the mouse builds his tower with familiar Thanksgiving foods. The colorful illustrations and descriptive language will have you craving a feast of your own! This is a great way to talk to kids about the importance of appreciating what you have and not being greedy.
In November
Written by Cynthia Rylant and illustrated by Jill Kastner
This book discusses how the world changes during the month of November. The beautiful illustrations show how animals prepare for the winter while people gather to eat delicious foods and give thanks for all of their blessings. This is a great book for discussing the changes in nature around the Thanksgiving holiday.
Thanksgiving Rules
Written by Laurie Friedman and illustrated by Teresa Murfin
This story introduces readers to a young boy named Percy Isaac Gifford and his rules for Thanksgiving. He talks about the importance of helping around the house, as well as greeting guests and not arguing with your mom about the outfit she picked out for you. He also tells kids to eat everything at the Thanksgiving Buffet! This is a funny story that both kids and parents will enjoy (who doesn’t love a story that tells kids not to argue with you?), with illustrations that are comical and colorful. Kids will love reading Percy’s rules every year!
There are so many wonderful Thanksgiving books available for kids of all ages to enjoy. Do you have any favorites in your family?
More Posts You May Enjoy:
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- The Night Before Thanksgiving
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- Fun with Franklin for Thanksgiving
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- Giving Thanks for Thanksgiving
What a great idea! I hadn’t thought of throwing some Thanksgiving books into the mix.
Thanks! It’s so easy to skip right to the Christmas books! I still have to build up my Thanksgiving collection a little more.
You always have the best book lists! I have a suggestion though. It would be so fantastic if made a printable list for each blog post of all the books you mention. Then, I could take it to the library with me!
Aw, thank you! That’s a great idea! I was actually just starting to look into adding some printables to the site, so I will definitely get those moving soon! Thank you!!
So I know I’m a year behind on this, but I have been wanting to try my hand at creating printables lately, but I didn’t really have any ideas to start with. Maybe we can work out a partnership that would help both of our sites and the readers! =)
I’d definitely be interested in talking about it! You can email me through the contact page to discuss!
I haven’t read any of these so I will definitely have to check them out. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is one of my favorite events ever so I am excited to read Balloons Over Broadway. I love Thanksgiving and reading to my daughter so this is a great list!
I’m so glad! I loved learning the background on the balloons. I hope you and your daughter do too!
Great picks! If I was still an elementary school teacher I would have “needed” all of these!
Haha. Thank you! I don’t even have a classroom and I still convince myself I “need” them!
Thanks for the ideas. Balloons Over Broadway looks beautiful!
I hope you like them! I love that the book will make me look at the parade differently from now on!
This is a good list, I haven’t heard of these!
Thanks! I hope you enjoy them!
I love the “In November” book. The illustration is so pretty.
The illustrations are beautiful and really show what happens in November!
I do not even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was great. I do not know who you are but certainly you’re going to a famous blogger if you are not already 😉 Cheers!
Aw thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed it! I hope you come back!
Great list! We don’t have any family favorites, but Balloon Over Broadway may become one.
Thank you! It is definitely a fun addition to Thanksgiving traditions!
We absolutely NEED balloons over boardway!! Wonder if amazing amazon could deliver by tomorrow?!
How many times do I wish they did?! I hope you enjoy it when you get it!
Those first two books look especially great! I think my kids would really love the Macy’s one, this was the first year we all watched the parade together as I got ready for dinner and my kids really loved it.
I loved learning about it! I can’t wait to share it with my daughter when she is older.
Love your book collection, my kids would really enjoy reading these.
Thanks! They are really fun books!
We dont celebrate Thanksgiving but I still think that the books really look like a great way to introduce the kids to Thanksgiving!
They are definitely fun ways to introduce the holiday to kids!
These are such good book recommendations! I am hoping to get some more seasonal books this year for our little one!
I hope you enjoy them! I love getting new books out for every holiday!
I actually haven’t even thought about getting any Thanksgiving books for my 18 month old, but he loves to read. Thanks for the great suggestions!
I hope you enjoy them! I love getting our holiday books out ever year!
These look like really great books! I’m fed looking into getting a few for my little guy before the holidays!
They are so much fun! I love getting new holiday books to share with my daughter!
These are some great book selections. I’ll be adding them to my list.
I’m so glad! I hope you enjoy them!
This is a great list! My daughter is still not quite into listening to books (she’s 18 months old and can be hit or miss with everything!), but I should go ahead and start stockpiling these for when she’s ready to be read to!
I started my collection long before I had my daughter and I’m so glad I did! When she really gets into a reading mood, we can read piles of books in a day, but I have lots to choose from!