Whether introducing books on DVD, computer, video readers, or the good old-fashioned way in real books to hold and cherish, reading remains the key to a child's door to learning.
Illustrated stories about holidays, festivals, and the colors of the seasons especially appeal to children of all ages because they capture the imagination and relate to a child's world and culture.
The Magic of Storybooks Enhances Learning and Attention Span
Stories make it easier to focus on an idea expressed in words because the mind instinctively follows the plot sequence. The cadence of the words and entertaining illustrations engage a child's imagination, calling upon ideas to form pictures and illustrations to form thoughts.
Teaching Kids About Thanksgiving, Harvest and Changing Seasons
Thanksgiving, with its colorful bounty of the harvest season, adds its own special brand of excitement to stories. Through artful stories, parents and teachers can share with children the traditions of the Thanksgiving observance, which holds special meaning in the United States (November) and Canada (October).
Other countries and cultures also observe festivals at this time, such as Latin America's Dia de los Muertos. The changing of the seasons is a universal time of festivals, contemplation and celebration.
Holidays are great platforms for teaching. Teachers and parents can create learning activities and weave reading into holiday traditions. Children love color and parties. They love feeling secure.
Harvest – the tradition of bringing in of bounty to keep well through the winter - underlies the celebration of the fall season, the time of Thanksgiving. Harvest equates with reward and security.
Books about Thanksgiving, harvest and the social traditions evolved from them are important tools for teaching children. Many children's books draw from these themes. Historical or humorous stories, they are also just plain fun.
Sharing books with children encourages reading, which in turn enhances learning in a much broader sense.
The books listed here have been selected as recommended Thanksgiving and harvest children's books, and also for their value as fun reads that will encourage kids to want to read more. Suggested reading levels are mentioned, but not for purpose of limitation.
These books are entertaining for kids of all ages. They are well illustrated, engaging, informative and imaginative.
Recommended Thanksgiving, Harvest Books for Children
Curl up by the fire, gather around the kitchen table, pile up on the couch or bed, add a bowl of popcorn and crisp apple snacks, and enjoy a reading fest to celebrate Thanksgiving and bless the harvest.
- The Thanksgiving Door, by Debby Atwell (Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2003)(ISBN-10: 0618240365)(ages 4-8).
- Who Stole Grandma's Million-Dollar Pumpkin Pie? by Martha Freeman (Holiday House, 2009)(ISBN-10: 0823422151)(ages 9-12).
- Thanksgiving at the Inn, by Tim Whitney (Bancroft Press 2009)(ISBN-10: 1890862469)(ages 9-12).
- Turkey Trouble, by Wendi Silvano (Marshall Cavendish Reference 2009)(ISBN-10: 0761455299)(ages 4-8).
- The Run Away Persimmon, by Suzanne Coomber (AuthorHouse, 2009)(ISBN-10: 1449009115)(ages 9-12).
- Thanksgiving at Grandma's, by Nancy Olson (Trafford Publishing, 2009)(ISBN-10: 1425189091)(ages 7-10).
- The Life and Times of Corn, by Charles Micucci (Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2009) (ISBN:10-0618507515)(ages 4-8).
- Pilgrim's First Thanksgiving, by Ann Mcgovern, Ill. by Elroy Freem (Scholastic Paperbacks, 1993)(ISBN-10: 0590461885)(ages 4-8).
- Thanks for Thanksgiving, by Julie Markes, Ill. Doris Barrette (HarperCollins, Reprint ed. 2008)(ISBN-10: 0060510986)(ages 4-8).
- It's Fall (Celebrate the Seasons), by Linda Glaser (Millbrook Press, 2001)(ISBN-10: 0439400171)(ages 4-8).
Linda Ashar - Linda C. Ashar is a lawyer, educator, horse breeder, freelance writer, and artist. Her 25-year law practice in Avon, Ohio, focuses on ...
