The First Thanksgiving

by Garnet Nelson Jackson, Carolyn Croll (Illustrations)

Learn about the Pilgrim's arrival in the new world, their harsh first winter, and their relationship with Samoset, Squanto, and other Native Americans. The book culminates in the great harvest feast shared between the English and the Natives, which has now come to be known as the first Thanksgiving.

Level 3

Genres: Thanksgiving, Picture Books, Nonfiction, Childrens, Holiday, Historical, History

40 pages, Paperback

First published September 22, 2001

Reviews

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book with my class yesterday to help us learn about why we have Thanksgiving. I think it accurately describes how the Native Americans helped the Pilgrims survive in the New World, as well as the Pilgrims journey on the Mayflower. The language is the story is easy for children to understand. I highly recommend it to teach children about Thanksgiving.

[Sam · Rating 1 out of 5]

the art of the indigenous people is so white washed theyre even more pale than i am. also if you can bring up death from disease with children you should bring up the massacres too. this has aged like milk.

[Darius Billings · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite part is when they decided that Thanksgiving will be the fourth Thursday in November.

I like that Thanksgiving is a joyful and happy day!

I like that the Pilgrims and the Wampanoags had a really yummy feast.

I love Thanksgiving so much! I’m glad I read this book.

[Della Tingle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great little Thanksgiving reader! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a story about the first Thanksgiving. It is a little simplified and glosses over some of the history, but that is probably because of the age range and when it was written.

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here is a history of Thanksgiving for the younger child who is reading on about a 2nd or 3rd grade level. This book has lovely colorful illustrations on every page. Each page has either an illustration or one paragraph. There are no pages with more than one paragraph. It sounds easier than 2nd grade right? Well it's not because of the vocabulary. There are alot of Indian names that are difficult for anyone to pronounce, even adults and no pronunciation guides are to be found. Here are some of the more challenging words: arrival, fertilize,Samoset,Plymouth, Massachusets,Patuxet Wampanoag, thousands, and celebrations. I should also say that this version of the story is sort of of sweetened up for the kiddies, no harsh realizations, it's all kept very happy, very sweet. This story might be best for tender hearted little kids who aren't quite ready for the gory details that disillusion us as adults.

[Luisa Knight · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's simply, but it's a good book to hand over to your beginning reader!

Reading Level: 1st - 2nd

Cleanliness: nothing to note.

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[Hope · Rating 3 out of 5]

According to the cover, this somewhat easy to follow text is for grades 1 and 2. Although, there are some words that are difficult to pronounce [basic phonics skills do not help either], such as Mayflower (author puts word in italics), Wampanoag, Patuxet, Massachusettes, Englishmen, Abenaki,Samoset, fertilize, Pokanoket, Massasoit, celebration, the story was entertaining to a 5th grade fluent reader. Echo reading could be used on the sentences with Indian names and more challenging words. I think this book would be a good read for a 2nd or 3rd grader.

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

My mom made me read this. It was easy. It was ok. I learned about Pilgrims.

[Lisa Nagel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice simple history of Thanksgiving and the Pilgrims for early readers. Accessible text and illustrations. Works as a read aloud as well.

[Gina]

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