Thanksgiving Poetry

I thought some of you might be looking for Thanksgiving poems to share with children so I decided to write a review of Thanksgiving Day at Our House: Thanksgiving Poems for the Very Young. I’ve also included the full text of two traditional poems and a link to Ivy O. Eastwick’s Thanksgiving, a poem I used to share with my elementary students every November, in this Poetry Friday post.

THANKSGIVING DAY AT OUR HOUSE
Written by Nancy White Carlstrom
Illustrated by R. W. Alley
Simon & Schuster, 1999

This book opens with a poem that is set on the day before Thanksgiving at an elementary school where kindergarten and first grade students are celebrating the holiday with a pageant. The fifteen poems in this collection take us through the school festivities as well as those of a family with three young children. I'll give you a flavor of the poetry you'll find in this book. Here is the first stanza of the first poem.

From The Day Before

All kinds of turkeys
are strutting the halls.
Finely feathered gobblers
are squawking out their calls.

The next two poems, The Mayflower and The First Thanksgiving, are recited by children dressed up as Pilgrims and Native Americans. In The First Thanksgiving, thanks are given for friends and for the foods that helped to sustain the Pilgrims: pumpkins, beans, and corn. This is how the three-stanza poem ends:

From The First Thanksgiving

So thank you for corn
And thank you for friends.
On the earth and on others
We all must depend.

The rest of the poems take place at the home of the family hosting the Thanksgiving Day feast. There’s a poem in which Granny tells the children what it was like when she was a little girl. There are poems about activities that young and old relatives participate in before dinner: Thanksgiving Parade and Thanksgiving Charades. There are four poems about giving thanks: Thank You God for Bugs, Graces, Thank You Singing Game, and Goodnight Prayer. There is also Prayer for Others, a poem in which the children ask God to help Grandma to get better and to help those less fortunate than they.

I don’t want to leave the impression that all these poems and prayers about thankfulness and thinking about others lends a too-serious tone to the book. The poems are told from a child’s perspective and many are expressed with a childlike exuberance. In addition, R. W. Alley’s cartoon-style illustrations, rendered in pen-and-ink and watercolor, add a lot of levity and humor. They complement and extend the text. In the illustration for the poem Rhyme Time Thanks, Alley depicts a family busily preparing the Thanksgiving dinner. The painting abounds with lots of droll details: The dog has a slice of pie in its bowl; a mouse looks at cream that has spilled onto the floor as Grandfather whips the cream into a froth; the youngest child pushes a cat around the kitchen in a rolling baby chair.

Here’s an excerpt from The Way It Is at Our House, one of the most lighthearted poems in the collection.

From The Way It Is at Our House

Do Uncle Ernie’s socks match?
No! No! No!

Does Joey’s little dog scratch?
So! So! So!

Does Granny Nan tell funny jokes?
Ho! Ho! Ho!

Thanksgiving Day at Our House ends with Goodnight Prayer, a poem in which the young children of the family who hosted the holiday dinner express their gratitude for all the things they appreciate—including their happy feast, friends and relatives, blankets and toys, Papa’s singing noise and Mama’s kisses.

This is a delightful read-aloud to share with young children at Thanksgiving time. It's all about being thankful and sharing happy times with people close to us.

More Thanksgiving Poetry

Giving Thanks
Author Unknown

Giving Thanks

For the hay and the corn and the wheat that is reaped,

For the labor well done, and the barns that are heaped,

For the sun and the dew and the sweet honeycomb,

For the rose and the song and the harvest brought home -

Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!

For the trade and the skill and the wealth in our land,

For the cunning and strength of the workingman's hand,

For the good that our artists and poets have taught,

For the friendship that hope and affection have brought -

Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!

For the homes that with purest affection are blest,

For the season of plenty and well-deserved rest,

For our country extending from sea unto sea;

The land that is known as the "Land of the Free" -

Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving
Traditional

The year has turned its circle,

The seasons come and go.

The harvest is all gathered in

And chilly north winds blow.
Orchards have shared their treasures,

The fields, their yellow grain.

So open wide the doorway-

Thanksgiving comes again!


From Thanksgiving
by Ivy O. Eastwick

Thank you
for all my hands can hold-
apples red,
and melons gold,
yellow corn
both ripe and sweet,
peas and beans
so good to eat!

You can read the rest of the poem here.

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!

Kelly has the Poetry Friday Roundup at Big A, little a today.

More Thanksgiving Books for Children

Thanksgiving Books, Part I
Thanksgiving Books, Part II
Thanksgiving Book Lists

Robert's Snow: Starring Mary Newell DePalma

I met children's author and illustrator Mary Newell DePalma at the first Robert's Snow Open House of 2004, which was held at the Child at Heart Gallery . Since that initial encounter, our paths have crossed a number of times.

We were both on hand for a Robert's Snow kickoff event in Boston in 2005. Mary is the person on the far left in the picture above. I heard her speak at the 2007 Robert's Snow Artist Open House in October.

We see each other and chat at some of the events sponsored by The Foundation for Children's Books. Here you see--from left to right in the picture above--Mary, Grace Lin, Me, and Anna Alter. We were all at Boston College to hear Janet Wong.

Mary joined in celebrating at Grace's birthday party in May. She's pictured here with Steve Engel, the man who cut all the wooden snowflakes by hand, and Nicole Tadgell who created snowflakes for Robert's Snow 2004 and 2005.

Mary attended the May 2007 dinner meeting of the PAS North Shore Council when Mary Ann Hoberman was our featured speaker. Here she is sitting with my friend Peg Howard.

Mary Newell DePalma is a talented author and illustrator of children's books. She is also personable, has a great sense of humor, and is a pleasure to be around.

Mary doesn't limit her artistic talents to creating picture books. She also knits mittens and sometimes constructs "odd objects."

One of Mary's "Odd Objects"

Interview with Mary Newell DePalma

Elaine: Would you like to tell us about some of the different job experiences you had before you ventured into creating picture books for children?

Mary: I tend to avoid traditional nine-to-five jobs. In HS I knitted sweaters for a local designer, and used my calligraphy skills to address envelopes and make signs. During college and after, I interpreted for the deaf, mostly in classroom settings. My first job out of college was at a small greeting card company in Chicago where I did some typing, filing, and brainstorming for scented stickers for children. For example, if the scent was grapes, I’d make a list of hundreds of ideas for what a bunch of grapes could do: sing, skydive, drive a racecar, walk on stilts, go white water rafting, paint, eat an ice cream cone, etc, etc…I didn’t get to draw the stickers, I was just thinking up ideas for the guy who did draw them. I lasted there about six weeks. Then I took an even lower paying job being an apprentice engrosser where I ground my own ink, mastered various lettering styles, and wrote names on certificates all day long.

Mary is still knitting things...like the mittens above.

Elaine: When did you decide you wanted to become an author and illustrator of children’s books? What inspired you?

Mary: Well, after the engrossing thing, I tried all kinds of illustration. I attempted medical, semi-technical, editorial, advertising, and textbook illustration. I would get the work, try really hard, learn new skills, flounder a bit, realize I wasn’t very good at it, cross that career off the list and move on. So by process of elimination I was left with children’s book illustration. I knew lots of illustrators, but none who illustrated children’s books. I had never even given it a thought because I was kind of in awe of children’s book illustration, I guess. I imagined that some separate species of illustrator—geniuses—illustrated children’s books.

But I did send out postcards advertising my work to editors and art directors at publishing houses. I was pretty much dumbfounded by the response. Susan Hirschman, editor at Greenwillow, called and wanted to know if my illustration had a story to go with it. No, I said. She suggested that I try to write a story. Oh, sure, do you need your car repaired or any brain surgery while I’m at it???! I mean, I knew writers were very serious about their business and I had never written more than grocery lists. But I got this response over and over and I finally tried putting some book dummies together.

The stories that I made up for my book dummies were terrible, but my illustrations were charming. Some editors were very kind and thorough in their responses, and I learned what NOT to do. By making every error known to children’s book writers, then eliminating them, (and sheer dogged persistence), I did finally write and illustrate a book that was published.

Elaine: You have illustrated books for other authors as well as your own texts. Do you find there is a difference in how you approach a picture book project when the text is your own?

Mary: I enjoy the freedom and flexibility of writing my own text. Sometimes the story evolves in surprising ways and I’m free to follow my ideas and change my text if I want to. Illustrating other writers’ works helps me to stretch out of my comfort zone and has helped me to learn new things. For example, I would never have attempted to illustrate a crowd of children if it weren’t for Betsy James’ wonderful text for My Chair. (I would have avoided writing a crowd scene because I would have been too lazy to draw it.)

Elaine: You created snowflakes for Robert’s Snow 2004 and 2005. Can you tell us what your inspiration was for each of those snowflakes?

Mary: In 2004, I illustrated a book by Eileen Spinelli titled Now It Is Winter. It was the perfect snowflake theme book! I made a three dimensional mouse skating on the snowflake. I even knitted him a little sweater.

Mary's 2004 Creation for Robert's Snow

In 2005, my book A Grand Old Tree was published and I was pondering how to make a tree snowflake. My son suggested having the snowflake be the crown of the tree. So he was the creative genius behind that one!

Mary's 2005 Snowflake Tree

Elaine: I know that your 2007 snowflake was inspired by your new book The Nutcracker Doll. Would you like to tell us about the book and how you created your beautiful three-dimensional snowflake?

Mary: When my daughter Kepley was in the third grade, she got a role in Boston Ballet’s The Nutcracker. The book is about that wonderful experience, and it is published just in time for her 21st birthday! I built a little Kepley ballerina standing on her snowflake stage with a wire armature, newspaper, and rigid wrap. I sewed her a costume out of ribbons and netting. I hope it captures the adorable awkwardness of a very young ballerina.

We make these snowflakes with love and we’re grateful to have the opportunity to share that love with everyone who sees the snowflakes and benefits from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s work.

Mary Newell DePalma has a great website that includes a book animation of A Grand Old Tree, a Kepley paper doll activity sheet, and curriculum guides for some of her books. Why not stop by for a visit?

REMINDER: WIN A PRIZE!!! I do hope you’ll stop by to read all of my Blogging for a Cure interviews and to comment about the artists and their work. I have a special prize for some lucky person who leaves a comment at any of my six posts featuring a Robert’s Snow artist: a limited edition giclee print of an illustration from Grace Lin’s book Robert’s Snow! Each time you comment at one of my Blogging for a Cure posts about a Robert’s Snow artist, I’ll put your name in a hat. If you comment at all six posts, your name will go into the hat six times! The drawing will take place on November 19th, the day bidding begins on the first of three Robert’s Snow 2007 auctions.

I also have several consolation prizes for commenters who don’t win the “big” prize: five small prints of the Robert’s Snow mouse(mice).

Read about the following Robert's Snow artists that I have already interviewed for Blogging for a Cure:

Here is a link to my interview with Scott Bakal.

Here is a link to my interview with Alissa Imre Geis.

Here is a link to my interview with Wendell Minor.

Here is a link to my interview with Susan Kathleen Hartung.

Out & About: November 14, 2007

Horn Book Podcast with Grace Lin and Alvina Ling. In anticipation of the Robert's Snow: for Cancer's Cure snowflake auction, Lolly Robinson of The Horn Book Magazine talks with children’s author and illustrator Grace Lin and her good friend Alvina Ling, an editor at Little Brown. Both Grace and Alvina write for the Blue Rose Girls blog.
The October 2007 Issue of The Edge of the Forest is now available online.

Check out a YouTube video at the blog of Yuyi Morales. It shows how Yuyi created Little Night: See Me Shine, a music box, for Robert’s Snow 2007.

Tricia Stohr-Hunt has a special Monday Poetry Stretch for us at The Miss Rumphius Effect. She invites blog readers to participate in writing a renga, an ancient Japanese form of collaborative poetry.
Cybils Alert!!! Nominations close on November 21st. Be sure to nominate your favorite children’s and young adult books of 2007. Don’t forget that you may nominate just one book in each category. All nominated books must have a publication date of 2007. Paperback editions of hardcover books published before 2007 are ineligible.

Thanksgiving Books, Part II

TURK AND RUNT
Story by Lisa Wheeler
Pictures by Frank Ansley
Simon & Schuster, 2002

Looking for a Thanksgiving story that will get young kids laughing? Consider Turk and Runt. It’s a slyly humorous tale about two turkey brothers named Turk and Runt. The boys’ parents are extremely proud of their son Turk. He’s “the biggest, strongest, and most graceful bird on Wishbone Farm.” He’s a dancer and an athlete! What turkey parents wouldn’t puff out their chest feathers if they had a progeny like that? Turk’s parents are sure he’s going to go far in life. Bespectacled little Runt, however, knows exactly where Turk’s headed—not to fame and fortune, but to somebody’s house where he’ll be roasted and basted. Runt’s parents won’t listen to his warnings. They’re too wrapped up in their ambitious dreams for Turk.

Two days before Thanksgiving the famous ballet instructor Madame Waddelle arrives at the farm. “An audition!” squeals Turk’s mother. “Go out there and shake those tail feathers!” she tells her son. Turk leaps and spins…twirls and whirls. What a performance! The dance teacher is mighty impressed—especially with the size of Turk’s drumsticks.

Realizing that he’ll have to be the one to save his brother, Runt puffs out his feathers, throws himself to the ground, flaps and flops, hisses and sputters, gobbles like a maniac, and nearly scares the leggings off of Madame Waddelle. She runs away screaming: “Zees birds are crazy!”

But Turk’s not safe yet. The next day Coach Giblet arrives to select his Thanksgiving fowl. Turk’s father tells him to display his football prowess. Turk bobs and weaves, tackles and dives. He mows down every turkey in his path. The coach is in awe of this athletic bird. That’s when Runt comes to the rescue again. He cries and coughs and wheezes—he sniffles and sneezes and falls to the ground, hacking and quivering. “Good gravy!” shouts the coach sure that the turkeys are ill. He heads for the hills.

Runt’s parents are sad. Will their dreams for Turk’s bright future be realized? Maybe. When they see a little old lady driving onto the farm on Thanksgiving morning, they’re hopes are rejuvenated. They encourage Turk: “Show her what you’ve got!” But the elderly female isn’t interested in the robust Turk. She’s looking for a fowl of smaller stature—and Runt seems to be just the right size. His parents can’t believe it!

Knowing what the old lady has in store for him, Runt is on the run! That’s when Turk comes to his rescue. He uses the ballet moves and football maneuvers he’s perfected to help his puny sibling. When Runt gobbles like a maniac and Turk tackles her, the woman is finally frightened off.

Later that day, the thankful turkey family enjoys a feast of corn and alfalfa. But their happiness is shattered when Runt warns them that they’re not out of the woods yet. “Come December, folks begin planning their holiday dinners.” Readers have no need to worry about the fate of this fine fowl family. Runt’s got a plan—and you can be sure that this time everyone listens to him.

Ansley’s hilarious cartoon-style illustrations work perfectly with Wheeler’s humorous story. In this book, text and art combine to give readers one truly funny Thanksgiving tale.


Click here to view three illustrations from Turk and Runt.

Thanksgiving Books, Part I

Here are some children’s books I have in my personal library collection that I recommend for reading at Thanksgiving time.

GIVING THANKS
Written by Jonathan London
Paintings by Gregory Manchess
Candlewick, 2003

(The book cover posted here is from the paperback edition, which was published in 2005.)

Giving Thanks is not a picture book about the Thanksgiving holiday. I would describe it as more of a paean to nature than a story. It is a book about a boy who is learning a deep respect for and appreciation of the natural world and the creatures that inhabit it from his father.

The book is set on an autumn day. The boy and his father go off on a walk through meadows and the woods. The father gives thanks for all the gifts of nature they see on their daylong outing—including frogs and crickets singing down by the creek; the tiny beings with six or eight legs, weaving their tiny stories close to the earth; chanterelles, the wild mushrooms that smell like pumpkins; deer who have passed this way, their tracks like two fingers pressed in the dirt.

The book’s text is brief and oft times lyrical. The oil on canvas illustrations done by Manchess are gorgeous. Their broad, visible brushstrokes and blurred outlines bring to mind an impressionistic style of art. Shifting perspectives and close-ups keep this quiet book from becoming static.

Reading and discussing Giving Thanks with children might help to imbue them with an appreciation and respect for animals and other riches of nature that are so often taken for granted. It would be a fine book to read aloud in the classroom or to one’s own children before taking them on a nature walk. It’s also an excellent book about father-son bonding.

Note: Jonathan London dedicated this book to Joseph Bruchac, the award-winning Native American author and storyteller whose family founded the Ndakinna Education Center, a not-for-profit organization located on the Bruchac Nature Preserve in Greenfield Center, NY.

THANKSGIVING IS HERE!
Written & illustrated by Diane Goode
HarperCollins, 2003

There isn’t much of a story in this book. It depicts a joyful—and hectic—celebration of Thanksgiving as experienced by one large, close family.

Grandma arises early on Thanksgiving morning to get the turkey into the oven. Then, through the course of the day, relatives arrive—along with their children, a baby carriage, an enormous “special” present, knitting needles and yarn, a violin—and even a dog. Family unites to help with dinner preparations, the moving of furniture, and setting of tables.

Goode’s text curves and swerves above and below her light-hearted, cartoon-style illustrations, which add happy and humorous details to the story. Much of this holiday extravaganza is told through her art. In the pictures, we see children hiding under a table, adults reading to children, some relatives dancing while one plays the piano, older family members sleeping on chairs and sofas after their huge turkey dinner, a young boy playing the violin while standing atop a table, a crying baby, and one of the youngsters pulling off an elder’s toupee.

Thanksgiving Is Here! is a celebration of families…of relatives of all ages gathering together for one of the special occasions of the year.

THE THANKSGIVING DOOR
Written & illustrated by Debby Atwell
Houghton Mifflin (Walter Lorraine), 2003

I am quoting from the blurb printed on the back of the paperback edition of The Thanksgiving Door because it explains so succinctly and so well what this story is all about: “On Thanksgiving Day, an immigrant family opens their door to a couple of uninvited guests, sharing an evening of friendship, good food, and lots of dancing, and remembering that Thanksgiving is about opening one’s heart in welcome to the strangers who become friends and to the disappointments that bring unexpected joys.”

Ed and Ann are elderly. They’re home alone on Thanksgiving Day. When Ann realizes that their turkey has burned, she and Ed decide to see if the new restaurant down the street, which is owned by immigrants, is open for the holiday. Ed and Ann find the front door of the New World Café open. They step into the large dining room and see a long table that has been decorated and set for dinner. The restaurant is supposed to be closed for the holiday. The immigrant family is planning to have a big feast for relatives. The immigrants peer at Ed and Ann through windows in the kitchen door. They’re angry that intruders have made their way into the dining room. They’re sure their celebration will be ruined—and try to think of ways to scare the uninvited guests away.

But Grandmother feels differently. She believes they should share their meal and “turkey big as a doghouse” with the unexpected guests. The family decides that Grandmother is right. They add two more chairs to the table and welcome Ed and Ann to join them for dinner. And so, the members of an immigrant family open their hearts to an elderly couple and share not only food…but friendship--and their own special celebration of an American holiday in their adopted country.

It isn’t until the end of this heartwarming tale that readers find out that Grandmother had jammed a potato under the front door to keep it open. When Papa asks how it got there, Grandmother responds: “In old country Thanksgiving door is like happy heart, opened up big and wide.”

Atwell’s flat, folk-art-style illustrations are bright and colorful. They include lots of details and intricate patterns, which add visual interest. The intense warm colors used in the second half of the book echo the warm feelings of friendship and acceptance expressed in her story.

Although the ethnicity of the immigrant family is never stated in the text, Atwell provides plenty of visual clues for discerning readers in her illustrations: a painting of buildings with onion domes hanging on a dining room wall; the boxy, brown fur hats worn by the men; and family members performing what appears to be a Russian Cossack dance.