Thanksgiving, by Alice Flanagan (review)

We have always used books to prepare Calvin for upcoming events. When his two year old check-up was right around the corner we borrowed a handful of books about visiting the doctor, and when we thought we were going to start potty training we brought home books about that (and triumphantly returned them when it became a moot point). But my favorite events are holidays, and those are some of my favorite books, too. The trick has been finding age appropriate books that are actually about the holidays, as opposed to just stories around the holidays. It was at Halloween last year that we first discovered Alice Flanagan's Holidays & Festivals series, and we really enjoyed it, so when we found the entire eight book collection used online this fall we bought it (Halloween is missing from the picture below because Calvin was reading it).

There are pros and cons with the series. Each book contains a lot of information, so when we read them to Calvin last year we read only portions at a time, and, while written with a fun voice, the books are strictly factual, so they may not be for all toddlers. But we love that she covers the history of the holidays, and the different celebrations as they are observed around the world. The Thanksgiving book, for instance, talks first about the first harvest celebrations all over, then she goes on to explain Pilgrims, the Mayflower, and "Indians," and from there the process by which the holiday became nationally recognized. I struggle with reading "Indian" each time, and with the lack of attention given to the Native Americans' situation (mention is given, in the current celebrations section, to the fact that many of the Wampanoag refuse to celebrate today and why), but the book is both factual and intriguing; it has certainly started us cogitating on what exactly Thanksgiving has us celebrating.

Calvin loves that this book is written in chapters, and he loves reading about the Native Americans (Flanagan also has a number of books on individual tribes, but we have yet to take a look at those). I love the history, and the book's factual basis. We only just got the books this fall, and of the two we've read so far Halloween is my favorite, and I think Calvin agrees, but Thanksgiving is fun, too. We'll let you know how Christmas is when we crack it open, but I won't let us do anything Christmas until after Thanksgiving has passed. It's a house rule.