Giving Thanks for Literature

I love books. If you have ever been in my home, you know this. I have wall to wall bookshelves in my "formal living room". There a books stacked on nearly every flat surface of my main floor. I have to keep my holiday and seasonal books in plastic storage containers because I just don't have any more room on the shelves for them. But it also gets the kids excited when I pull out that new bin and they get to reunite with their old favorites from last year.

This week I pulled out my November books. There are so many great treasures in there. I found books about our American history like "Sarah Morton's Day" and the companion "Samuel Eaton's Day", and a lesser known book by the same author, "Giving Thanks: The 1621 Harvest Feast". These stories use photographs from the Plymouth Plantation living history museum to tell about life as a pilgrim child or as a Wampanoag child. If you haven't read them, you should go out and get them right now!

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There are also some funny whimsical stories like "A Plump and

Perky Turkey" or my favorite "A Turkey for Thanksgiving" where a misunderstanding worries poor Mr. Turkey. All Mr. Moose wants to do is please his wife by getting her a "turkey for Thanksgiving". And of course we rediscovered my son's favorite brown bear with "Bear Says Thanks."

November is also the time that I traditionally study Native

American history and culture with my children. We had a great time visiting our local Cawtaba Indian Tribe last year. It was so interesting to learn more about their traditions first hand. But I also enjoy reading Native American legends. "The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses" by Paul Goble is an award winner that has beautiful illustrations. And you can't go wrong with Tomie dePaola's "The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush".

I love to create literature studies to go along with the books we read in our home. You can hop over to my Teachers Pay Teachers store: Under One Roof and check out some great literature units to go along with some of your November books.

Thank you for visiting,