Customer Reviews

America's Real First Thanksgiving

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America's REAL First Thanksgiving by Robyn Gioia is a must-have for all elementary school teachers of Florida's history. Full of interesting and little known details, it is a well-written account not only of the first thanksgiving celebration held in St. Augustine, but of the fascinating historical events preceding this noteworthy occasion. In addition to the rich text, the book contains beautiful full-color illustrations and photographs with informative captions, a timeline, a glossary, and a recipe for Cocido, a type of bean soup served at the first thanksgiving. This book (and its companion teacher's manual) would be a valuable addition to Florida's fourth grade curriculum by providing a concise but thorough glimpse into Florida's past and the REAL first thanksgiving.

This book should have really been called "A Short History of Florida" as it hardly mentions the first Thanksgiving. It says little about who attended the First Thanksgiving nor the fact that the Bishop of Havana would come for a week each year to officiate in the Thanksgiving celebrations. There is no mention of the fact that most Spanish colonies celebrated Thanksgiving each fall. That the Pilgrims probably became accustomed to this celebration while living in the then Spanish controlled Holland before coming to Cape Cod. Too bad it does not live up to it's title and researched better. Florida and the rest of the USA deserves to know where the real first regular Thanksgiving was celebrated. Not the tradition taught by our uninformed public schools.

America's REAL First Thanksgiving is a picturebook about a feast shared by Spanish explorer Pedro Menendez and the Timucua Indians upon the founding of St. Augustine in what is now Florida. This shared exchange of food and gratitude took place on September 8, 1565, fifty-six years before the landmark Pilgrim celebration. "Why, you may ask, don't the history books record that the first Thanksgiving was in St. Augustine, Florida? Well, for many reasons England grew to be the dominant culture in the United States, and it is from their viewpoint that much of our history is told. But as time passes and unknown facts come to light, a more detailed history emerges from our heritage. And every year, more and more people join in celebrating our country's first Thanksgiving by serving cocido as the honored meal of the day." Full-color photographs and a recipe for cocido round out this fascinating introduction to little-known history for young readers.