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Over the River: A Turkey's Tale
Over the river Mama, Papa, and Baby Turkey embark for their vegetarian Thanksgiving Feast. But when a hungry boy and his dog start sniffing around, the turkeys have got to think fast before they become the main course!
Acclaimed artist Derek Anderson's glorious autumn artwork adds heaps of holiday humor to Lydia Maria Child's classic Thanksgiving song. And readers of all ages will be wondering who gobbles up whom until the dessert finale.
Acclaimed artist Derek Anderson's glorious autumn artwork adds heaps of holiday humor to Lydia Maria Child's classic Thanksgiving song. And readers of all ages will be wondering who gobbles up whom until the dessert finale.
40 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2005
2 people are currently reading
159 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews
March 24, 2018
I mean, it's just the first two verses of the song with illustrations that basically tell an entirely different story. I want to know THAT story, so the words of the song might as well not even be there.
November 26, 2008
The kids found the secondary story in the illustrations to be confusing. If you need a Thanksgiving-themed book this would fit the bill, but there are better options.
May 9, 2017
This one is a favorite in our house. the text is simply the first two verses of the popular Thanksgiving song which the title suggests. But the pictures make a whole second story, portraying a family of turkeys on their way to grandma's house, and their adventures with a hunting hound, his master the hunter, and of course a dappled grey horse. The illustrations aren't especially fancy, but I like how clever the author/illustrator was in his new interpretation of the classic song.
November 23, 2017
2.5 stars
my biggest complaint is that illustrations really didn't match the story at all. The story is comprised of the lyrics of the song Over the River. the illustrations by themselves are pretty cute. the best thing to do would be to make up your own story according to the illustrations. Reading the text just confused my little one.
my biggest complaint is that illustrations really didn't match the story at all. The story is comprised of the lyrics of the song Over the River. the illustrations by themselves are pretty cute. the best thing to do would be to make up your own story according to the illustrations. Reading the text just confused my little one.
February 3, 2022
Well, now I know the whole song instead of just the initial phrase.
Honestly, I have no idea what this book was intended to be. The pictures and the song have nothing to do with one another. Why are turkeys the main characters? Why does the boy set his dog on the turkeys? The song says 'dapple gray horse' but they have a solid gray...animal...that I hesitate to call a horse. It looks a lot more like a donkey...a miniature donkey if we compare its size to the rest of the animals.
It just makes no sense.
The stories tell a picture of chases, enmity, and peace...peace which occurs for no reason. But none of those things are present in the song itself.
Super odd. Did not like it.
Story: ................I got nothing
Art: Cute
Price: $14.95
This would be a definite don't buy.
Honestly, I have no idea what this book was intended to be. The pictures and the song have nothing to do with one another. Why are turkeys the main characters? Why does the boy set his dog on the turkeys? The song says 'dapple gray horse' but they have a solid gray...animal...that I hesitate to call a horse. It looks a lot more like a donkey...a miniature donkey if we compare its size to the rest of the animals.
It just makes no sense.
The stories tell a picture of chases, enmity, and peace...peace which occurs for no reason. But none of those things are present in the song itself.
Super odd. Did not like it.
Story: ................I got nothing
Art: Cute
Price: $14.95
This would be a definite don't buy.
November 25, 2015
This is adorable, though it took me two read-throughs to get that. The illustrations are bright, cheerful, expressive, and full of fun. There is much to see which will be picked up more in a lap-read setting. And what clever interpretation of a well-known song! Enjoyable. Yet how well could I read this in a storytime? Do I sing each line and pause with pages? Perhaps point out everything happening on the page? Must think on it, but too cute to pass up right now.
11/9/10 It came to me just as I was starting to read this book in preschool storytime to have the children help me read the story. So I asked them what was happening on each page. And they were fabulous! They picked up so many things on just the sweep, I was amazed. They even caught a couple of things I didn't. And it was fun to see what particular things each child noticed in the pictures. They were all highly invested in the story, too, as they were telling me what was going on and wanted to see what happened next. Indeed, the song lyrics/text became very background thought as we went through the book. And the special needs group did just as well with it.
11/16/10 & 11/18/10 I went the same route with these preschool groups and they loved it. The larger Tue. group was more vocal about it. The smaller Thu. group had my over-reactive buddy who comes to both storytimes in the week. So he knew what was coming and I had to come up with even more things to help point out or get the kids involved. Of course, he and another child decided to get very active in the "turkey running" and the dog chasing. But it was still enjoyable
11/26/14 Unfortunately, my new group was a little too young to help me with telling what was happening in the pictures. I had to prod them along on most of it. But they still enjoyed the book overall and liked the pictures.
11/25/15 Was going to use this for literacy moment in ST. Have the kids identify something in the picture and then find the apple from my barrel of apples with the letter that the item begins with. But as I had one family (with 2 kids to work with), I let the kids pick which book to read and when. This was the first choice. I had them come up close and asked them what they were seeing. Then they could tell there was a song printed on the end pages, so they asked me to sing it.
11/9/10 It came to me just as I was starting to read this book in preschool storytime to have the children help me read the story. So I asked them what was happening on each page. And they were fabulous! They picked up so many things on just the sweep, I was amazed. They even caught a couple of things I didn't. And it was fun to see what particular things each child noticed in the pictures. They were all highly invested in the story, too, as they were telling me what was going on and wanted to see what happened next. Indeed, the song lyrics/text became very background thought as we went through the book. And the special needs group did just as well with it.
11/16/10 & 11/18/10 I went the same route with these preschool groups and they loved it. The larger Tue. group was more vocal about it. The smaller Thu. group had my over-reactive buddy who comes to both storytimes in the week. So he knew what was coming and I had to come up with even more things to help point out or get the kids involved. Of course, he and another child decided to get very active in the "turkey running" and the dog chasing. But it was still enjoyable
11/26/14 Unfortunately, my new group was a little too young to help me with telling what was happening in the pictures. I had to prod them along on most of it. But they still enjoyed the book overall and liked the pictures.
11/25/15 Was going to use this for literacy moment in ST. Have the kids identify something in the picture and then find the apple from my barrel of apples with the letter that the item begins with. But as I had one family (with 2 kids to work with), I let the kids pick which book to read and when. This was the first choice. I had them come up close and asked them what they were seeing. Then they could tell there was a song printed on the end pages, so they asked me to sing it.
October 12, 2018
This book is based on the song "Over the River" but it has a twist. It is told in the turkeys point of view. It shows the danger of being a turkey and being hunter for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. You will have to read and see what happens in the end and whether it ended good or bad for the turkeys.
I liked this book, but it wasn't my favorite. I thought it was cute and a nice twist. The pictures were funny and you got a lot of extra details from looking at them, but there was just something about it that was boring and predictable.
While I didn't like this book a whole lot, it would be a fun read around the holidays to focus your lessons maybe around the turkeys point of view. It would be fun to write a letter as the turkeys to the hunters pleading that they should not hunt them anymore.
I liked this book, but it wasn't my favorite. I thought it was cute and a nice twist. The pictures were funny and you got a lot of extra details from looking at them, but there was just something about it that was boring and predictable.
While I didn't like this book a whole lot, it would be a fun read around the holidays to focus your lessons maybe around the turkeys point of view. It would be fun to write a letter as the turkeys to the hunters pleading that they should not hunt them anymore.
May 3, 2016
Much of the story in this book is told in the brightly colored drawings. The story is based on the traditional song "Over the River and Through the Woods". It has the same tune, which is printed int the book, but the words are different because it is a turkey family going to visit the grandparents for Thanksgiving. There is also word play for older children, such as the horse being on a sled and sliding down the hill to save the turkey family from a boy out hunting and his ferocious looking dog. There is just enough violence to be exciting to young children but it ends well with the dog joining the turkey's for Thanksgiving dinner and the boy seen through the window looking for all the animals.
May 28, 2015
I have a string of Thanksgiving books that I read to my daughter and my second graders. These will be quick reviews based on the reactions of my daughter and students. I put the date the same for each book, but I really read them in the week leading up to Thanksgiving, and on Thanksgiving Day. Under the how many times I've read it category, that will be how many Thanksgivings I've used this book.
I just discovered this book, and it is absolutely wonderful; a sure crowd-pleaser. It's a marvelous retelling of an old poem. We used it this year to sing to our grandparents on Grandparents' Day. It was a hit!
I just discovered this book, and it is absolutely wonderful; a sure crowd-pleaser. It's a marvelous retelling of an old poem. We used it this year to sing to our grandparents on Grandparents' Day. It was a hit!
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April 8, 2014I absolutely loved this story and the way it aloud you to see the Thanksgiving holiday through the eyes of a turkey. I felt as if I was right there with the turkeys as they prepared for this trip to see the grandparents, and loved the illustration of the woods that they traveled through. It was interesting to me that Turkeys would celebrate Thanksgiving day, and then reality set in when they ran into the vicious dog on their journey. Of course I will use this book in the month of November as the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, and for a little entertainment for my students.
June 19, 2015
While the text is simply the lyrics to the traditional song, Over the River, the illustrations are an entirely unique take wherein turkeys are going to visit the grandparent turkeys for Thanksgiving, all while being chased by a boy and his overzealous dog. It ends well, with the dog being shown the wrongness of his ways and joining the turkeys for Thanksgiving while the boy searches harmlessly for the turkeys and his dog. I guess it doesn't end so well for the boy, but everyone else is happy. Fun read. It made lyrics to a familiar song into a new experience.
January 27, 2011
A lot of Thanksgiving books are duds, but this one is great. I love songs made into books, and the illustrations on this one are lovely. The song is a little outdated, but kids don't even notice because they are so attached to the dog and turkey family in this book. My 18 month old niece had us read this to her over and over and over again during the month of November, and it was my storytime book for preschools as well.
November 28, 2012
Cute book to go along with the well known "Over the River and through the woods" Thanksgiving song. The illustrations tell the story of a turkey family on their way to Thanksgiving dinner with grandparents - but they run into trouble along the way. Also another "don't eat turkey!" Thanksgiving book.
November 5, 2014
Over the river Mama, Papa, and Baby Turkey embark for their vegetarian Thanksgiving Feast. But when a hungry boy and his dog start sniffing around, the turkeys have got to think fast before they become the main course!
Acclaimed artist Derek Anderson's glorious autumn artwork adds heaps of holiday humor to Lydia Maria Child's classic Thanksgiving song.
Acclaimed artist Derek Anderson's glorious autumn artwork adds heaps of holiday humor to Lydia Maria Child's classic Thanksgiving song.
November 21, 2019
I wasn't a huge fan of this book. It had some good opportunities for dialogic reading, but if I'm honest, I didn't completely understand the story line. It was like the turkeys were running from hunters, but then in the end, the turkey and the hunting dog sat down to eat dinner together and the dog was submissive to the turkeys. The ending was cute, but I felt adrift as to how we got there.
July 3, 2011
My 20 month old loves this book, we read it incessantly. The Thanksgiving "song" told from the turkey family who is making the journey to Grandma's house. I am sure it helps that I sing it as I read it.
November 24, 2012
This book was an average choice- not that thrilling. However, it does lend itself to incorporating music into story or reading time. With it's Thanksgiving theme, I'd be willing to incorporate it into classroom readings and/or library.
September 21, 2015
Anderson's version of Child's classic song is a fun twist that is sure to conjure up some laughs and giggles. A turkey family must travel to grandmother's house for Thanksgiving without becoming dinner for a boy and his hound.
May 27, 2014
The entire book is a song which is great for babies and toddlers. The little chicken goes through forest and river to get to his grandma's for thanksgiving. The book also has musical notes for the song. It has vivid illustrations too.
September 30, 2015
I was excited to read it, but I was expecting the original story, not an unusual twist. In other words, the pictures matched the words of the song sometimes, but other times it seemed a little too forced or awkward. The illustrations are awesome - fun, bright, and whimsical.
February 19, 2016
Read (sung?) to the tune of Over the River and Through The Woods to Grandmother's House We Go, is the adventure of the turkey family trying to get to their grandparent's house to celebrate Thanksgiving. Preferably uneaten!
Great illustrations.
Great illustrations.
November 18, 2008
Fun book - great illustrations!
November 27, 2008
The pictures tell a whole new story based on the old song. Lots of fun for lessons on predicting what will happen next based on the images.
January 6, 2009
Thanksgiving book to the song "Over the River and through the woods to grandmothers house we go . . ." Always fun to sing along!
November 26, 2011
The poem over the river and through the woods--fun to sing, but again, I'd look for another version. It's weird from a turkey viewpoint. I'd love a nice picture book form of this poem.
November 4, 2010
One of my new favorite children's books, esp. for Thanksgiving.
January 29, 2015
Cute illustrations. Sometimes I felt the pictures didn't match up to the words of the song at all. The illustrations really told their own separate story, I felt. But, it was cute.
November 25, 2010
Wonderfully illustrated! A great book to share with your child or grandchild this Thanksgiving.
February 25, 2011
A must read in the fall to have for the kids to enjoy Thanksgiving even more.
August 18, 2011
I think Kindergartener's would enjoy this book during November but I was not interested.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews