What Is Thanksgiving?

* Reviews *

Landau starts her book with symbols of Thanksgiving—a turkey in the oven, a pumpkin pie—provides historical background that young children can absorb, and moves back to how the holiday is celebrated today, leaving her readers with thoughts about the meaning of Thanksgiving as well as some suggestions for what they might do to demonstrate what they are thankful for. This book contains a variety of text features common to informational texts such as a Table of Contents, a Words to Know page for introducing vocabulary, an Index, and even a Learn More page that provides titles of books and relevant websites, all providing opportunities to introduce and/or emphasize the purpose and usefulness of these features. The book is illustrated with full color photographs that convey current messages about the holiday in their own right. These are complemented by diagrams, paintings, and drawings that depict historical connections. With the increased emphasis on reading informational texts in early grades that the Common Core presents, books such as this will be essential additions to classroom libraries., Children's Literature