More Thanksgiving Books & Crafts

Today I am going to share an easy Thanksgiving craft and several great Thanksgiving books we have been enjoying. We will start with the books. 

First is One is a Feast for Mouse by Judy Cox. This is an adorable story of a mouse who sneaks out while everyone is distracted in the post-Thanksgiving stupor--napping, television, etc. He climbs up on the table and finds some leftovers. He starts by taking one pea since one pea is a feast for him, but then he sees the cranberries and takes one of them as well. Then he sees something else. Pretty soon he has a huge pile of food including the turkey and gravy and wakes the cat and the mouse drops all the food. He manages to get away from the cat and then finds one pea near his door. It is a cute story to talk about greed and overeating.

 Next is Beauty and the Beaks: A Turkey's Cautionary Tale by Mary Jane and Bern Auch. Beauty is a hen who owns a hen/bird beauty parlor. One day there is a new bird on the farm. He is a turkey. He starts talking about how he is going to a big party at the house and he is the only bird invited. He is bragging to everyone about it. Beauty goes up to snoop at the house and hears that the turkey is the main course for the Thanksgiving meal. She feels terrible for him and goes and tries to help him escape. It is a cute tale of someone helping someone else even after they were not very nice.

Next is Bear Says Thanks by Karma Wilson. This is not really a Thanksgiving book per say, but it does have to do with a huge meal and saying thanks. Bear wants to have a dinner party for his friends, but his cupboard is bare. Each friend then shows up with part of the meal and Bear keeps saying, "Thanks" to his friends. Then he feels bad about not having anything to add to the meal. His friends tell him he adds his stories and personality. It is a wonderful story about sharing and friendship.

Turkey Trouble by Wendi Silvano, I shared last year, but we still are really enjoying it. It is another book about a turkey trying to escape being Thanksgiving dinner. He tries to disguise himself as the other animals on the farm, but the other animals keep noticing it is him. Finally he dresses as the rooster but then he overhears the farmer and his wife discuss that they will eat the rooster since they cannot find the turkey. He then finds the perfect solution so he and his friends are not eaten for Thanksgiving. Hazel loves this one and loves the ending which I will leave to surprise you!

Thanksgiving Graces by Mark Moulton is my new favorite Thanksgiving book. It is the story of a family preparing the Thanksgiving meal and table. The crowd keeps growing including some unexpected guests. They keep making room and sharing and it really tells the wonderful idea of Thanksgiving being about sharing what you have and taking care of one another. 

Gracias the Thanksgiving Turkey by Joy Crowley is a wonderful story about a boy and his pet. His father sends Miguel a turkey while he is away from home (he is a trucker so he is away a lot). The note on the turkey says to fatten him up for Thanksgiving and the father will be home. Miguel names the turkey, Gracias. Miguel and Gracias become best friends. Miguel keeps him out in the yard until someone steals him. After that his grandmother allows him to keep Gracias in the house (a police officer brings him home).  One day the grandmother is rushing Miguel to mass and the turkey does not get locked up. The next thing they know Gracias is walking down the aisle of the church. The priest blesses both Gracias and Miguel and after that the grandmother says they cannot eat Gracias, so they have chicken for Thanksgiving. Miguel holds onto the hope that his father will be home and at the last minute, he does come home. It is a wonderful story about family, friendship and love. It also is a wonderful multicultural book. Miguel is Puerto Rican and there are Spanish words throughout the story.

If you want to see more Thanksgiving books that we have read in the past few years there is a round-up here.

Now for my simple craft. I found this one on Pinterest and it originally was on Oh My! Creative: Kids Thanksgiving Turkey Craft. I added a bit more to it. It is really simple. You cut some cupcake liners in half and glue three to four together so they look like layers. Then add a brown pom pom for the head and a yellow beak. We also added eyes and the red part under the beak. I'm not sure what it is called. 

For more Thanksgiving crafts go here to my round-up of past and present! Tomorrow we will be looking at Native American crafts and Thanksgiving books.