Thanksgiving! The Very First One

The sun is shining! For someone who has been trapped in a house with two small, sick children during a nor'easter, this is a cheerful sight! As the wind and rain pounded down hour after hour and my girls became more and more cranky, I felt true compassion for those families aboard the Mayflower. This week we continue our focus on Thanksgiving!

The Book - The Very First Thanksgiving Day by Rhonda Greene

Following The House that Jack Built format, Greene tells of those first courageous pilgrims, starting with the farming of the new land and moving backwards to the crossing of the Atlantic. The story includes most of the key events surrounding the landing at Plymouth Rock, but I was disappointed that there was no mention of why the pilgrims set out for America or to whom they were thankful. To tell of the pilgrims without mentioning God is to tell only part of the story. Still, the illustrations are gorgeous and alone worth a look at this book.

The Craft - An Heirloom Thanksgiving History


My mom rocks. No, really. She does. Growing up, we took for granted that every holiday was magical, filled with little traditions my mom carefully constructed over the years. One such tradition was the reading of "The Pilgrims & Thanksgiving."

Mom wrote this book after a family trip to Plimoth Plantation. Filled with all the new things she learned about the first pilgrims, she came home and wrote for her three daughters a historically accurate account of the first Thanksgiving. Typing it up on manila paper, she gave the story to my oldest sister Kim to illustrate. Beth was then responsible for coloring the pictures.



Every year since we have read the story after Thanksgiving dinner. What a joy to think that such a simple project turned into a cherished family heirloom! And what an encouragement for me as a mom that my time and efforts may reap lasting memories for my own children!