Customer Reviews

The First Thanksgiving

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Jean C. George's book may look good and sound nice, but it leaves out some critical facts and totally misrepresents others. Ms. George claims that the pilgrims came to the new world to seek their fortune and leaves out the real reason--religious persecution and a desire to worship God in their own way. Pilgrim leader William Bradford wrote in his diary that his motivation was, "a great hope... for advancing the Kingdom of Christ."

She also states that Thanksgiving itself "was not a day of pilgrim thanksgiving," but "pure celebration." This would also be news to Bradford, who wrote: "Through [the Lord's] blessing [there was] a fruitful and liberal harvest... for which mercy, they set apart a day of Thanksgiving."

Ms. George is free to write whatever kinds of children's books she wants, and she has done some very good ones. But this book does a disservice to the truth. Being politically correct must never be taken to the extreme of distortions and untruths. If Ms. George can't accurately, and in a fair and balanced way, give credit to the faith and belief in God which was central to the lives of the pilgrims and the main reason they risked the dangers they did, then she should leave the writing on this important part of our history to someone else.

Want to know where Plymouth Rock came from and what it has to do with the pilgrims? What happened when the Mayflower finally sighted land? This is the book for you. The First Thanksgiving is history, community, geology, and science in a very beautifully illustrated and believable story of the colonization of Massachusetts. The pilgrims came to the New World looking for religious freedom only to be met by fear, death, hunger, and an insightful and helpful Pawtuxet, Squanto. It was from his willingness to share his knowledge that we have the celebration of Thanksgiving.

Some reviewers have felt the author made too little of the Pilgrims' faith, but on the contrary I was pleased with her specific references to prayer, Bible reading, and worshiping God according to their consciences. I'm an evangelical Christian, and I found the book to give respectful and appropriate coverage to the Pilgrims' faith, while also acknowledging that they were joined by others who went to America for other reasons. Overall this is a wonderfully thorough, fair and balanced telling. It tells the story of Squanto in such a compelling way that I found it to be a powerful tale of redemption. Although Squanto was twice wronged by being first kidnapped and taken to Europe, and then making his way home only to find everyone dead of a European disease, still he took the newcomers to heart, and saw to it that they survived. Like in the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis, good came of the evil that had been done to Squanto, as he used his English language fluency, the badge of his years of suffering, to reach out to and ensure the survival of the newcomers. It is a powerful story of forgiveness and redemption, brought full circle in a beautiful way by the author. That was what made this the best Thanksgiving book I have read.

The paintings are beautiful in their own right.

This book is great for reading aloud to younger grades. It pulls together three sets of traditions -- Plymouth Rock (the geological reasons for its presence in the bay), the Pilgrims' journey (their persecution and search for a place of religious freedom, as well as their bravery and near-disastrous beginning in the New World), and Squanto (captured, enslaved, taken to England, returned to find his village all dead, and his adoption of the settlers).

Other books take one or another of these story lines, but this book does all three.

Excellent storytelling, with good scientific details and top-notch illustrations.

Thanksgiving is given a new point of view and retelling in this very special picture book. Jean Craighead George, the Newbery Medal-winning author of JULIE OF THE WOLVES, as well as nearly 100 distinguished nature books for young readers, presents the story of the first Thanksgiving with warmth, fascinating detail, and lyrical as well as informative storytelling. Thomas Locker's colorful, classical paintings beautifully complement the author's words. The story begins with the formation of Plymouth Rock, a huge, two-million year old glacial mass that comes to rest in Cape Cod. Then the Pawtuxet tribe arrives, earning their living from the land, including Squanto, who is later captured by Englishmen and sold into slavery. Across the ocean, Pilgrims seeking religious freedom set out on a perilous voyage to America. Upon reaching the New World, they must deal with many hardships including disease, starvation, and death. Still the Pilgrims endure. In the springtime, Squanto, freed from slavery and now a member of another Indian tribe, arrives, bringing peace to the people of Plymouth. He teaches them how to grow crops, catch fish, hunt deer and turkey, showing the Pilgrims the importance of respecting the land and using it wisely. In 1621, after a bountiful harvest, a great celebratory feast takes place for three days, in which the people gather and eat and play games--the first Thanksgiving. This story is a unique portrayal of historical events, always keeping the reader intrigued and awed, with its terrific writing and inspirational illustrations. As she does in every one of her books, Jean Craighead George reminds us of the need to honor our natural resources and every living thing on the planet. In this story, too, she sends a message of peace that will inspire every person and reach beyond one day in November, to give thanks every day for what we have.

This is another great Thanksgiving book that I read aloud to my family after we ate our Thanksgiving dinner this year. Everyone enjoyed it, adults down to my 5 year old. (the 2 yr olds could care less:) But I bought it because we homeschool our 5 yr old but it ended up being a book that everyone enjoyed listening to. We'll get this one out year after year.