Thanks & Giving: All Year Long [Hardcover]

Marlo Thomas (Author), Christopher Cerf (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2, 2004

Did you ever

dream of talking to a mermaid?

Can you imagine

facing off with a bully who

barely reaches your knees?

What would you do

with a box of golden coins?

Have you ever

said thank you to...a button?

And how would you respond if you met a magic genie who asked you for a handout instead of granting you a wish?

Free to Be...You and Me creator Marlo Thomas has once again produced a joyful volume for children and the grown-ups in their lives. Reaching into the heads and hearts of our most acclaimed writers, artists, and performers, Thanks & Giving celebrates the best things in life -- family, friendship, giving, thankfulness, and love (and just for fun, a few of their opposites -- stinginess, bullying, ingratitude, and the occasional urge to stamp your feet and throw a fit).

From Tiger Woods and Maurice Sendak to Hilary Duff and Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo, this colorful collection of stories, poems, and songs will take readers on a lighthearted and thoughtful (but never overserious) adventure. Whether you're gazing at the brilliant child's-eye paintings of illustrator Eric Carle, or laughing out loud at the off-the-wall humor of Mel Brooks, you'll enjoy every step of the magical journey that the creators of Thanks & Giving have planned for you:

• Delight in Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith's fractured fable starring a mouse, a bird, and a sausage who learn all about sharing -- the hard way.

• Hold on tight as Rosie Perez recounts the tale of a little girl confronted with a heart-stopping decision.

• Rock along with Kevin and Michael Bacon's funky valentine to sibling rivalry and brotherly love.

• And laugh with Ray Romano as he reveals how his life was changed by a giant burrito.

Designed for both cover-to-cover reading and selective excerpting (when you can't refuse that last impassioned call for "One more story!" just before lights-out), this sparkling anthology also includes marvelous contributions from Avi, Shel Silverstein, Tom Chapin, Arthur creator Marc Brown, Matt Groening, Deepak Chopra, Donald Trump, Frankie Muniz, Walter Dean Myers, Paul Newman, Sumner Redstone, Jerry Pinkney, Whoopi Goldberg, Sonia Manzano, the Sesame Street Muppets, Julianne Moore, Ed Koren, Wendy Wasserstein, and Paul O. Zelinsky.

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Gr. 3-5, younger for reading aloud. Thomas has assembled a list of luminaries to write (or draw) about the title theme, including the biggest names in children's literature--among them, Avi, Kate DiCamillo, and Eric Carle--as well as stars from the entertainment world, such as Ray Romano, Mel Brooks, and Paul Newman. As in any anthologies, the quality varies from piece to piece. The best are quite memorable. Maurice Sendak's "Give and Take," featuring his signature monster, is a wordless tribute to sharing, as is Mo Willems' cartoon about a dog and squirrel making sure neither is hungry. Deepak Chopra writes poignantly about his daughter carrying on a family tradition of feeding the hungry. Some writers, such as Wendy Wasserstein, write right over kids' heads to adult readers. Despite the unevenness, this is an exceedingly handsome book with enough stories, songs, poems, and beautifully reproduced art to make it a worthy purchase--especially since the proceeds go to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Marlo Thomas graduated from the University of Southern California with a teaching degree. She is the author of five bestselling books, Free to Be ...You and Me, Free to Be...a Family, The Right Words at the Right Time, Thanks and Giving: All Year Long, and The Right Words at the Right Time Volume 2: Your Turn! Ms. Thomas has won four Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe, a Grammy, the Peabody Award, and has been inducted into the Broadcasting Hall of Fame for her work in television, including her starring role in the landmark series That Girl, which she also conceived and produced. She is the National Outreach Director for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. Ms. Thomas lives in New York with her husband, Phil Donahue.

Christopher Cerf is the co-editor of The Politically Correct Dictionary and Handbook, The Gulf War Reader, The Iraq War Reader, and The Eighties: A Look Back at the Tumultuous Decade, 1980-1989. He is a former contributing editor to the National Lampoon, and he co-edited the newspaper parody Not the New York Times. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing; 1ST edition (November 2, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689877323
• ISBN-13: 978-0689877322
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,384,421 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars BUYER BEWARE: VERY MISLEADING PACKAGING OF BOOK AND CD, December 26, 2005

By 

VLH - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Thanks & Giving Book and CD: All Year Long (Hardcover)

I am extremely disappointed with this purchase (and I just made three of them.) Last year I bought the book and the companion CD separately, so when I saw this special edition and price with the book and CD combined, I was delighted because I could afford to give both as Christmas gifts for three separate families. Boy was I embarassed yesterday when they opened up the book and tucked in the back was the "CD" with only 3 songs on it (as opposed to the nearly 20 the original has). I reread the description of this edition on Amazon's website this morning and I don't see it mentioned anywhere that the CD was so incomplete. It implies its the same CD as the companion CD. Charity or no charity, this should have been clearly explained in Amazon's description. If that was the case, I would have bought my family members ONLY the companion CD, which we've enjoyed much more than the book (which is pretty uneven, as previous reviewers have noted.) BUYER BEWARE!

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining, and Good Cause, November 19, 2004

By 

Ron Atkins "Ron" (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Thanks & Giving: All Year Long (Hardcover)

Marlo Thomas has used her celebrity to organize a group of accomplished writers, artists, and actors to write stories about giving and being thankful. The 96 page picture book is ideal for elementary school readers, and is also suitable for reading to younger non-readers. Some of the featured writers include Avi, who has written numerous young adult novels worth checking out. Maurice Sendak is also featured, he's the artist/writer who created Where the Wild Things Are. According to the book description, Ms. Thomas has pledged to give the proceeds from this book to the St. Jude's Children Hospital. I believe this is in Memphis, and was founded by her father.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is a joy for all ages!, December 30, 2004

By 

Blaine Greenfield "eclectic reader" (Belle Meade, NJ) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Thanks & Giving: All Year Long (Hardcover)

I loved THANKS & GIVING: ALL YEAR LONG, edited by Marlo Thomas and Christopher Cerf . . . and you will too, particularly if you have a young child or grandchild who never tires of a bedtime

story.

Yet that said, I should add that this book is also a joy for adults--if for just the magnificent illustrations from a variety of artists . . . the range of contributors is likewise impressive:

from Shel Silverstein to Donald Trump and including Deepak Chopra, Paul Newman, and Whoopi Goldberg among others.

You can read THANKS & GIVING straight through or do as I did; i.e., skip around . . . I guarantee that it will put a smile on your face, as well as anybody else you might choose to share it with--and I do encourage you to share it for maximum enjoyment.

There were several memorable passages; among them:

(from "Aunt Delia's Holiday Manners Quiz by Delia Ephron) It's time to go home. What's the best way to show everyone how much you love them?

Give them each a big hug and a kiss and thank Aunt Delia for the delicious dinner. Say, "Some Thanksgiving. The only thing I liked was the white meat turkey." Say, "So long, Aunt Delia, Uncle Jerry, Grandma, Grandpa, Matt, Michelle, and Baldie. See you at Christmas. Bring big presents."

(from "Thank you, Mrs. Abruzzi" by Ray Romano) When I was a kid, my father told me over and over again how important it was for me to get a good education. "Knowledge is power!" he would

bellow. Whenever we talked about school or college, he'd scream it:

"Knowledge is power!"

Then he found out how much a college education costs. "On the other hand," he decided, "what you don't know won't hurt you!"

(from "Presents I Have Known" by Frankie Muniz) STUPIDEST PRESENT I EVER GOT: One birthday all I wanted was a red wagon, just like any other three-year-old. Only problem:

I was fourteen at the time. I thought it would be cool to put stuff in it and pull it around behind my bike. Wrong. You shoulda heard by friends. "Yo, dude, what's up with the red wagon?" Talk

about embarrassing.

Marlo Thomas and Friends--her contributors--have contributed all royalties from the book to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, founded by her father, Danny Thomas, in 1962.