There are a lot of books published about the Thanksgiving holiday and many of the ones that tell the Thanksgiving story are very wordy and complicated or very silly. I am a big proponent of silliness and if you have been following this blog series you know that I use a lot of silly books. Click here for my post from last year about the “Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie” which is about as silly as a book can be.

Thanksgiving is a very special holiday for me and for our country. The concept of thankfulness is difficult to teach to young children. They may say “Please” and “Thank You” but do they really understand thankfulness? One night at the dinner table, I was discussing the subject of thankfulness and thanksgiving with my daughters, who have always been wise beyond their years. I was expressing my frustration at finding a book that told the basic facts about Thanksgiving without too many details. We decided to write and illustrate our own book.

“The Thanksgiving Song” – by Debi Kret-Melton, MT-BC – illustrated by Debi and Daley Melton

Tells the basic story – the Pilgrims came to America, the Indians* were here already and helped them to survive and after they had grown and hunted food and built houses they were so happy that they had a big feast with their friends. I use active listening techniques to ask questions after we have finished singing the book. I also explain that the Pilgrims thought they had landed in India which is why they called their new friends “Indians”

This is sung to the tune of “Mr. Froggy Went A’Courtin’”.

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What are your favorite songs, books or activities for Thanksgiving? We would love to hear from you in the comments below.

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