Thanksgiving books for kids

This is a great week to pile up the Thanksgiving books, read with your kids, and discuss gratitude and the history of the holiday. (Hint: it's not about football!)
Here are some of my Favorite Thanksgiving Books to get you started. 
Here is one book that you could look at every day up to Thanksgiving break and incorporate an art study with history. You want to do that because:

a.) It's an effortless way to teach art appreciation and art history to your kids, making them more art literate and well rounded

b.) You can read one book to accomplish 4 things: teaching art, creative expression, history, and fluency/listening comprehension--all with one read aloud. 

The book is N.C. Wyeth's Pilgrims, with text by Robert San Souci. I love the book for pointing out the glorious colors N.C. Wyeth uses. He was a famous American painter and illustrator. Reading this book is like taking a short trip to an art museum without leaving your home! 

Rather than describing this book in my own words, I found this Amazon reviewer (C.Collins) to be more articulate that I am:

"This book is more than a children's book because it is illustrated with images from 12 large murals that N.C. Wyeth created for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. This commission was the largest in N.C. Wyeth's career and unfortunately he died...before the entire project was completed. As a children's book telling the stories of the pilgrims, it is a great book with Robert San Souci's text that never talks down to children. However, for those interested in the visual arts, the book is also a record of these grand murals that Wyeth created to honor the experiences of the pilgrims. Wyeth selected not to paint all the frostbite and hunger and danger but instead created a robust, warm, glowing vision of the pilgrim experience in the new world." 

After reading this book and observing the paintings, you could simply ask your kids to draw their own pictures of the first Thanksgiving using lots of color and expression. Hang their pictures on the wall or refrigerator and talk about their favorite pictures from the book. 

Would you like a free printable list of other Thanksgiving titles? Download the complete list here:
Favorite November Booklist