The Thanksgiving Story

by Alice Dalgliesh, Helen Sewell (Illustrator)

Overview

In this festive Caldecott Honor–winning picture book, Alice Dalgiesh brings to life the origin of the Thanksgiving holiday for readers of all ages.

Giles, Constance and Damaris Hopkins are all passengers aboard the crowded Mayflower, journeying to the New World to start a new life. Things get a little more cramped when their baby brother Oceanus is born during the passage. However, when they arrive, there are even worse challenges to face as the Pilgrims are subjected to hunger, cold, and sickness that put their small colony in great danger. With the help of the Native Americans though, they might just be able to survive their first year in this strange land—and have a November harvest to celebrate for generations!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780689710537
Publisher:	Aladdin
Publication date:	09/01/1985
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	1,055,941
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.20(d)
Lexile:	610L (what's this?)
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

Alice Dagliesh wrote many books for young readers, including The Thanksgiving Story, The Fourth of July Story, the Bears on Hemlock Mountain, and The Little Wooden Farmer, all available from Aladdin.

Editorial Reviews

Dagliesh and Sewell received praise for the clarity and immediacy of their picture book, a hit of the season in 1954. Today's children, beginners and advanced readers, will value the story about one family's first Thanksgiving in the Plymouth Colony, strikingly present in stylized, naive pictures like colored etchings. Giles, Constance and Damaris Hopkins are aboard the Mayflower, overcrowded when the Speedwell turns back to England. On the journey, the children's baby brother is born and named Oceanus; he will be one of the smallest in the company of settlers who endure the terrible first year in the New World and gather to celebrate the harvest the next November. The story ends with the great feast to which the colonists invited the Indian chief Massasoit, Squanto and their people who had helped the strangers survive hunger, cold and sickness. (58)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly