I liked this book because of the writing and illustrations throughout. The author used rhyming on every page turning learning about Thanksgiving into a fun read. All of the authors thoughts flowed well on the page, with no more than 2-3 lines on a page. The illustrations in the book took the reader to the past and showed the difference between the Pilgrims wear and the Native Americans wear. The pictures were very detailed and full of color. The big message of the story was to show what occurred on Thanksgiving and the customs the Pilgrims got from the Native Americans. ( )

The story of the first Thanksgiving. Told in rhythmic prose, with nice illustrations.

I liked this book because the illustrations are fantastic and bring the text to life but I disliked the way this book was written. The main message of this book is to educate readers of how the first thanksgiving came to be and all the different people involved in it. For example, the book says “These are the pilgrims who farmed the new land, who steadfastly labored and toiled by hand, and learned from the Indians, skillful and strong.” This excerpt shows how many different kinds of people where needed for the first Thanksgiving to ever come to be.
The illustrations in this book are by far its best quality and most attractive to draw readers into the story. Every piece of text is accompanied by either a full page or full two page illustration setting the scene for the reader. For example, the quote “This is the food, gathered and blessed, the corn and sweet berries, the wild turkey dressed, shared on the very first Thanksgiving Day” has a two page illustration showing all the different races of people sitting at the table enjoying all of the food referred to in the text. This makes the reader feel like they are at the table experiencing the moment with all these people thus making the book come to life. Another illustration that is particularly important to this story is the one showing the Mayflower ship and all the trials and tribulations, such as harsh winds and horrible seas, it went through to get to the new world and make the first Thanksgiving possible. Without these illustration this story would be very hard to understand due to the way it is written.
The way this book was written is something I did not like at all. At times the writing would not flow well at all and could confuse readers if not for the illustrations that kept them on track. For example, the book begins at the very first Thanksgiving Day table with everyone sitting around enjoying their meal then goes to explain in reverse chronological order how it came to be. That would work if it ended the moment when the Mayflower docked on the shores of the New Land but instead it tells the story again after the ship docks and goes back to the moment in the beginning of the book. This is very confusing to readers and makes no sense in telling a story about a non-fictional event. If the book would have had some break or explanation as to why the sudden change from flowing backwards to forward it could have worked but none was to be found. The only thing that saved the book from being far to convoluted to understand are the excellent illustrations that accompany the text and explain the story. ( )

I liked the book, “The Very First Thanksgiving Day.” The main idea of this story is to share with readers what the first day of Thanksgiving was like and inform readers the circumstances pilgrims faced. I found the book to have a calm and humble tone, especially because of the poetic writing and warm colored, illustrations. For example, “These are the Pilgrims who farmed the new land, who steadfastly labored and toiled by hand, and learned from the Indians, skillful and strong.” The rhyming words help the information shared more interesting and rhythmic. The illustration of that quote would then be pilgrims huddled around an Indian man, watching him as he teaches a child how fish and plant seeds. There are no strong, vibrant colors in this book. Rather, warm-colored tones such as brown, blue, and green are used. I appreciated the colors used because it enhances the meaning of the Thanksgiving holiday; how it is a day to celebrate the humble beginnings of this land, and to be grateful for what we have. ( )

I had mixed feelings about this book after reading it. While I loved the author’s writing entirely, I was not fond of the illustrations. The writing of this book is engaging and clever, in that it rhymes throughout the book and the rhymes are both strategic and fitting to the story/plot. I also liked how the author began each page either with “This is…”, or “These are…”, as if to label the paintings. I did not like the paintings however, because despite the warm fall colors used which are appropriate to the Thanksgiving setting, the people in the illustrations lack facial expression. In a few illustrations that are portrayed overlooking a surplus of people from far away, the people’s faces included in the picture, though clearly visible, do not have eyes or noses or mouths. I understand that the painter might not have wanted the reader to focus on the people’s faces in the illustrations, but considering the age level this book is intended for, I think children expect to see faces full of expression in stories. This adds to the feeling of the book and keeps the reader engaged in the story. Also, on other pages that have close-up paintings of people and their faces, I don’t feel that the expressions are as dramatic as they should be. Most of the people represented in the pictures have identical facial expressions that lack emotion. The characters should all be excited for Thanksgiving, as this will in return excite the reader for the holiday. The big idea of this book is to inform readers about how Thanksgiving came about. ( )