Thanksgiving is a Blessing

Thanksgiving is a Blessing takes you through a community on Thanksgiving day as they come together to celebrate. The community harvests their garden to give to a food bank, participates in the Turkey Trot, shares recipes with one another, and welcomes their family and friends back home as they gather for Thanksgiving dinner.

What I Liked: This book begins on the morning of Thanksgiving, before delving into the various activities taking place within the community. This book does a fantastic job of capturing the diversity within this one community and how the community comes together to celebrate. It’s nice to see the community come together to celebrate in various ways, such as arts and crafts that the children enjoy with the adults. It’s heart-warming to see the excitement on the adults' faces as they share in these activities with the children in their lives.

The soft, warm, and lively illustrations throughout this book bring Thanksgiving to life, transporting you into this community’s celebration. Each page begins with a different aspect of Thanksgiving, such as tradition, journey, family, laughter, and a blessing. It includes things such as being grateful to receive, traditions that are passed down, talking and reminiscing, and missing people who can’t be there. The book closes with ways to set the Thanksgiving table as a craft project that young children can enjoy, along with a recipe for pumpkin soup.

Final Verdict: Thanksgiving is a Blessing is a delightful story using rhymes to highlight the celebration of Thanksgiving and how we make it special. Children ages 3 and up will enjoy this introduction to Thanksgiving and all the things that come with this special holiday. While there is a religious message as Thanksgiving is a Blessing, non-religious people will also enjoy the various things that are brought up in this book, and remember what Thanksgiving is about.