Let’s talk about Thanksgiving picture books! I love Thanksgiving and I love all of these books! As a child, I just kind of thought of Thanksgiving as an ugly stepsister to Christmas. It didn’t have all the flash and fun of Christmas. Now that I’m old it’s really grown on me. It has a beauty all of its own. Maybe that’s because I’m a responsible adult now in charge of it. I appreciate that it’s a lot less work than Christmas LOL. I love to honor Thanksgiving Day with the traditional feast with family and/or friends, and prelude the day with tons of picture books about it for the weeks leading up to it. So here’s to these glorious books that celebrate its history, grateful spirit, its food, its charm and its warmth!

An Outlaw Thanksgiving is loosely based on a story involving Butch Cassidy and a small town in the wilderness of eastern Utah. You might have to hunt this down through interlibrary loan. I love this one, and A Turkey for Thanksgiving, because of their surprise endings!

Give Thanks to the Lord is a beautifully illustrated book to celebrate Psalms 92.

I just love the crayon books like the one below. They always hit the spot for whimsy! There’s nothing in this one about historic Thanksgiving, but it does reflect the spirit of giving thanks.

The one above is a small, simple cute board book for younger children.

The two ones above are about Sarah Josepha Hale, the woman who got the U.S. federal government to create the U.S. national holiday of Thanksgiving. I love the illustrations of both. They each tell the story slightly differently!

Then there’s Cranberry Thanksgiving. This style of illustration takes me back to my 70s childhood. I just love, love this book because it’s about hospitality, friendship, and not judging by appearance. Plus it has a recipe for cranberry bread in the back. It’s part of a whole series of Cranberry books: Easter, Halloween, and Christmas.

Sharing the Bread tells of a clan’s Thanksgiving dinner in rhyming format. Delightful!

Thank You Omu! is not about the Thanksgiving holiday but it is about giving thanks, so it ties in just because of that. It’s such a sweet story about the power of sharing food, hospitality, community, and gratitude.

Thanksgiving in the Woods tells the true story of a family who hosts Thanksgiving dinner in the woods every year near their home in upstate New York, with candles, bonfires, lots of food and lots of people. Sounds so jolly and hygge! (If you don’t know what “hygge” means go here to learn all about it!) I absolutely love this book. Look for the companion Halloween, Christmas, and Easter books by the same author, Phyllis Alsdurf, as well.

I enjoy the work of Eric Metaxas. Squanto’s story fascinates me! I can definitely see the hand of God in his life. Telling this story is a great springboard into asking your family how they see the hand of God in their lives.

Speaking of the hand of God, it’s important to tie that in to the Pilgrims themselves besides just the Squanto part. God orchestrated so many details to help them get to America. The books above and below give some examples of that. The author and illustrator, Cheryl Harness, of Three Young Pilgrims has such a gift for making the most beautifully detailed maps in her books. I have my own copies of several of her books about history, including the one above. My goal is to collect them all, from thrift stores of course! I just love poring over the maps with all the little pictures and labels.

P.J. Lynch, author and illustrator of the book below, also has such an artistic eye. (He’s the illustrator of The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey.) This book is about John Howland, a real person who was on the Mayflower. He’s actually my many-greats-great-grandfather! His story illustrates the hand of God in someone’s life. What would have happened if he hadn’t been saved after falling overboard on the Mayflower? This book deserves to be read every year to be reminded of the role of Providence in the Pilgrims’ lives and all of our lives. I love the lovely illustrations in both these books!

Balloons Over Broadway tells the story of real live puppeteer Tony Sarg and his balloons that became part of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. So it’s another great picture book to bring children into American history. So many STEM and history lessons can be drawn from this!

How to Hide a Turkey is a silly book when you want to take a break from the more serious books on this list.

For the suspenseful feeling of a turkey hunt and dad-and-son togetherness, read the book above.

The one below isn’t really about thanksgiving, just about growing cranberries which many people feel is needed for a proper Thanksgiving dinner (not me, LOL). I love the theme of a family working together on their farm at harvest time.

The Memory Cupboard is a sweet story about forgiveness and the lesson that people are more important than things.

The above one is new to me. I’ve got it on hold at the library! It looks promising! It tells the story of the Pilgrims in rhyming format. The one below also tells the story of the Pilgrims, this time in non-rhyming format. The one above looks to be better suited for younger children, with fewer words and poetry, whereas the one below is better for older children because it has more words.

This next bunch of books shows the family aspect of Thanksgiving with relatives gathering.

The ones above and below show the traditional song about going to Grandma’s house for the holiday. Oher versions are out there too.

The one above is a cute, cute story by the author of Little Women, Louisa May Alcott. I love that it shows siblings rallying together to put on Thanksgiving dinner. It also has a recipe for apple slump at the end, if I recall correctly. (That’s so interesting since I learned on my recent trip to the Little Women house that Louisa May’s father called their home “Apple Slump.”) I always borrow a copy of this from the library and I don’t have one currently so I can’t check. Anyway, you can read it for free here, but the picture book is ALWAYS better.

Then we have some poetry books with fun rhymes and pictures.

Last but not least is probably my favorite! I love it because it shows how what appears to be a ruined Thanksgiving Dinner becomes one of the best days of the year for a lonely senior couple, all because of the kindness of strangers. So heartwarming! Thinking about it is even better for me this year because last August in Maine I saw a framed print of the book cover image, hanging on the wall, at the Skidompha Library in Damariscotta, Maine.

BONUS: This bottom one is not a strict picture book and it’s not strictly Thanksgiving themed. It’s called My Picture Book of Songs. It’s a children’s songbook of seasonal and holiday songs with beautiful illustrations, vintage 1950-60s ish. All the children are so plump, shiny and rosy cheeked, they rival any Campbell Soups Kid. It has two Thanksgiving songs for children that are absolutely adorable. One is religious, a Thanksgiving prayer, and the other is fun and bouncy, about anticipating the feast. I remember my kindergarten and first grade teachers using this book. It brings back so many fond memories of school and love of learning. I love it so much I asked for it for my Christmas gift from my parents about 15 years ago. I have used it for my morning singing time with my children and I’m going to bring it into my Grandma School this year. You can find it used on amazon and at online used book stores, and new at Deseret Book here. It is a gem!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! For more fall-themed lists of family traditions, books (including Thanksgiving-themed chapter books like the one below), conversation starter questions, and foods, go to my companion website here, and scroll down to November.