I'm so impressed -- a thanksgiving book that doesn't wander into culturally insensitive territory, and instead celebrates the strong willed and talented woman who got it declared a national holiday. Great job, I say! Good illustrations, a solid story and emotional depth. Not what we have come to expect from the run of the mill picture book. ( )

Author Mike Allegra and illustrator David Gardner join forces in this engaging work of picture-book history, tracing how 19th-century author, editor and opinion-maker Sarah Josepha Hale campaigned for three decades to have Thanksgiving made a national holiday. A deeply personal subject for her, Thanksgiving struck Sarah as an opportunity for her fellow citizens to take stock, and to realize, even in the midst of tragedy, that they still had much to be thankful for. Her letter campaign eventually succeeded, and Abraham Lincoln, in the middle of the Civil War, made Thanksgiving the national holiday that Sarah felt it should be...

Published in 2012, Sarah Gives Thanks: How Thanksgiving Became a National Holiday covers much of the same ground as Laurie Halse Anderson's Thank You, Sarah: The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving, published a decade earlier. That said, the narrative here is engaging, and captures the personal dimension of Hale's struggle, after her husband died and she had five children to raise on her own. It also offers a more truthful depiction of the important role that religion played in Sarah Josepha Hale's life, than the earlier book, opening with a post-funeral prayer, and mentioning that one of the reasons Hale favored Thanksgiving was that it would increase religious feeling in her fellow citizens. The artwork from David Gardner is appealing, and I found that I preferred it to the illustrations of Matt Faulkner, who worked on Thank You Sarah. All in all, a solidly engaging and informative book, recommended to picture-book readers looking for stories about the history of Thanksgiving. ( )

MY THOUGHTS:
SARAH GIVES THANKS:HOW THANKSGIVING BECAME A NATIONAL HOLIDAY by Mike Allegra,illustrated by David C. Gardner is an exciting Children's books/Holidays/America Thanksgiving. This story of Sarah Josepha Hale, a young widow with small children. A young woman who would not stop until she made Thanksgiving a National holiday. An inspiring story! She remarried in 1813 to David Hale, a lawyer, who encouraged her, she published a few pieces of poetry with her husbands encouragement. A widow once again, Sarah earned her living by writing. She was also the editress of a Ladies magazine. On Oct 3, 1863, Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving a National holiday on the last Thursday of November. Sarah did many things for women's rights and was a remarkable woman. A must read!
Did you know?.....Who helped make some of the National Landmarks noted? Who wrote the novel to condemn slavery? and Who wrote "Mary Had a Little Lamb"? To learn more on this remarkable lady you must read "Sarah Gives Thanks: How Thanksgiving Became a National Holiday" you will not regret reading the life of Sarah Josepha Hale. Educators,young readers and older students will enjoy this wonderful story with beautiful illustrations. Received for an honest review from the publisher.
RATING: 4.5
HEAT RATING: NONE(CHILDREN'S BOOKS)
REVIEWED BY: AprilR, My Book Addiction Reviews ( )

This picture book biography is a wonderful companion to Laurie Halse Anderson's [b:Thank You, Sarah: The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving|537036|Thank You, Sarah The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving|Laurie Halse Anderson|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347556323s/537036.jpg|1046772]. While they're quite different in tone, the two books together give some long-overdue recognition to a pretty amazing nineteenth-century woman whose life was a testimony to not letting the word "no" stop you from what you want to accomplish. ( )