The Thanksgiving Book: A Companion to the Holiday Covering Its History, Lore, Traditions, Foods, and Symbols, Including Pirmary Sources, Poems, Prayers, Songs, Hymns, and Recipes, Supplemented by a... [Library Binding]

Laurie C. Hillstrom (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2007

Use this collection for research, browsing, or just for fun. It is an ideal resource for students, teachers, and librarians seeking information and program materials for Thanksgiving. Material in the book can be read, spoken, or performed. The book also includes activities and recipes to enhance the celebration of Thanksgiving.

Material in "Thanksgiving Program Sourcebook" is organized under the following chapters:

Introduction: "The Story of Thanksgiving" - provides a comprehensive survey of the origins, evolution, and significance of the holiday, including a perspective on celebrations in times past

Stories - presents complete stories, tales, and legends selected from a wide range of sources

Poems - reproduces poems written about the holiday and related topics

Prayers, hymns, and songs - includes the words and music for songs, hymns, and prayers associated with Thanksgiving

Plays - provides the full text of short plays of 15 to 30 minutes in length that can be performed by children and adults

Activities - describes Thanksgiving-related activities, including home decorating, games, dioramas, and crafts

Recipes - presents Thanksgiving favorites from cranberry sauce to pumpkin pie, including recipes for turkey, gravy, stuffings and side dishes, breads and biscuits, beverages, and desserts

Special Features include illustrations, a Thanksgiving bibliography, and a list of Thanksgiving-related Web sites. The book includes an Author and Title Index and an Index to First Lines of Poetry.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7 Up—This book explores the history, customs, food, and symbols of the national holiday. The first section contains two essays that examine the history (beginning with the early settlers to America and the European influences on these people and covering through 2005) and food of this American tradition. The second part provides more than 50 chronologically arranged primary sources, which include the often-overlooked Native American perspective on the event. Documents (which are referenced in the opening essays) range from the Mayflower Compact to presidential proclamations: Lincoln's naming Thanksgiving Day a national holiday and George W. Bush's November 16, 2001, speech that referenced the holiday and the September 11th attacks. Each document is introduced by a short paragraph placing it in historical context. The third section has recipes. Black-and-white photographs and archival drawings appear throughout. The bibliography is extensive. This title is more up-to-date than Diana Karter Appelbaum's Thanksgiving (Facts On File, 1985; o.p.).—Geneva Reeder, Lower Dauphin Middle School, Hummelstown, PA
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From Booklist

Following essays that cover Thanksgiving history and traditions, Hillstrom’s volume offers a collection of primary sources on Thanksgiving ranging from the Mayflower Compact of 1620 to examples from the twenty-first century. Entries reflect the November feast among immigrants and in the White House, in opposition to televised football games, and as a source of charity and family unity. The volume concludes with recipes for typical entrees, side dishes, breads, and desserts; a chronology; a bibliography (including Web sites); and a six-page index. Black-and-white illustrations include a portrait of Sarah Josepha Hale, campaigner for an annual period of thanks; a painting of the Mayflower; photos of a 1910 pageant in pilgrim costume in Peterborough, New Hampshire; and U.S. troops eating Thanksgiving dinner in Iraq in 2004. Tucked in among stories by Edward Everett Hale and Louisa May Alcott and vignettes by Harriet Beecher Stowe and Harry Truman are the hymns “Come, Ye Thankful People, Come” and “We Gather Together”; a Civil War sermon; a proclamation by Confederate president Jefferson Davis; and poems by John Greenleaf Whittier and Felicia Dorothea Hemans. This handy reference guide would make a great gift book. It deserves a place in school, college, public, and religious libraries. --Mary Ellen Snodgrass

Product Details

• Library Binding: 328 pages
• Publisher: Omnigraphics, Inc. (July 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0780804031
• ISBN-13: 978-0780804036
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,649,208 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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