P Is for Pilgrim: A Thanksgiving Alphabet

Sleeping Bear Alphabets

by Carol Crane, Helle Urban (Illustrator)

From the lives of our early settlers, who established the foundations for American freedoms and ideals, to today's celebrations, P is for Pilgrim colorfully examines the history and lore of Thanksgiving through snappy poems and expository sidebar text for each letter of the alphabet. Educators will find the inclusion of the Core Values of Democracy of valuable use for the classroom while kids of all ages will enjoy the bright, engaging illustrations and fascinating facts.

Lecturer and book reviewer Carol Crane was widely recognized by many schools and educators for her expertise in children's literature. She wrote several state books for Sleeping Bear Press including Texas (L is for Lone Star) and South Carolina (P is for Palmetto).

Helle Urban, a Parker, Colorado resident, has been an illustrator for over 20 years. She earned her bachelor of fine arts in illustration from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA. Helle has illustrated numerous children's books, painted portraits of families, and was a background artist in the animation industry.

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

40 pages, Paperback

First published August 22, 2003

Reviews

[Luisa Knight · Rating 1 out of 5]

There were some interesting things presented, but it felt like a government-written children's textbook to me (if you know what I mean). I mostly skimmed it.

Ages: 8 - 12

Cleanliness: nothing to note.

**Like my reviews? Then you should follow me! Because I have hundreds more just like this one. With each review, I provide Content Considerations, mentioning any objectionable content I come across so that parents and/or conscientious readers (like me) can determine beforehand whether they want to read a book or not. Content surprises are super annoying, especially when you’re 100+ pages in, so here’s my attempt to help you avoid that!

If you’re considering a book or looking for a new title to read, check out my highly categorized shelves, read my reviews and Friend or Follow me to spiff up your feed with clean, wholesome, living books.

I have an Instagram account that’s pretty bookishly unique too!

[Janet · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thanksgiving and the concept of giving thanks is my favorite holiday and spiritual concept. This book is not one I can be grateful for. It is confusing in presentation, going from present day concepts about how we celebrate to facts about the pilgrims. Using the abc format the author is forced to make everything fit the mold. I just feel this title isn't coherent, the abc format makes one unable to formulate the info given into a knowledgeable core of info about the pilgrims.

[Mallory Hargett · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book could be use as a quick holiday lesson with students learning ABC's. However, I do think the book could be confusing and misleading for students.

[Marie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is disorganized and confusing. The section on corn contains a paragraph about the importance of telling the truth. Half of the entry for D is inexplicably about cranberries.

But that's not the worst of it. The amount of misleading or false information in this short book is ridiculous. The author says the Bill of Rights "outlines the pursuit of happiness for each one of our citizens" and "is our birthright, as bold and brave statesmen wrote. Protecting life, liberty, and freedom, and giving us the right to vote." (The Bill of Rights does not describe the pursuit of happiness. Elections and voting are covered by Article I of the Constitution and amendments passed after the Bill of Rights). On the treaty between the Wampanoag and the Pilgrims, the book claims the Wampanoag leader Massasoit "wrote a peace treaty that was never broken." Peace between the two groups actually lasted until a half-century after the treaty was signed, when King Philip's War was fought. The author also argues that, "The values and traditions of Thanksgiving are found in every culture and religion." While it is true that the United States is not the only nation with a Thanksgiving holiday, traditions vary between cultures.

While this book might provide ideas for a parent, teacher, or librarian planning a Thanksgiving lesson, I wouldn't recommend this to most people.

[Amara · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a glorious whitewashing of American history. We were nice to the Natives! We signed treaties with them!

Also, there's a slight tone of nationalism in there.

The pilgrims loved Natives, remember? They were best friends. Don't forget.

'Merica.

The sad part is the author is a "historian".

"All Races in our republic respect each other’s rights and responsibility."

Races? Furthermore, "races" capitalized? Further-furthermore, lol, hahahahaha omg, so true! Racism is dead! #MAGA

[Charlotte S · Rating 4 out of 5]

My mom and I love this book because it covers all aspects of Thanksgiving, from the modern-day things to the parts that happened all the way back in the 1600s! There's a whole series of these books that we love to use for homeschool. We used all of the ones for USA Geography last year when we were studying that! The illustrations are great, too! Follow @bronteandwilder on Instagram for fun book recommendations!

[Breyanna Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book uses a thanksgiving alphabet to help teach students about traditions and the history of thanksgiving. Pictures are used in great detail to describe the history.

[SLoMoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t love this book, but with my team is voting for 4 stars. We only read the text and not the extra information tonight.

[Candi Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful alphabet book about Thanksgiving for multiple ages.

[Jenny Crumb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book!! My son read the smaller sections and I read the detailed side bars. Also loved the artwork. Overall great book

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is more than just an A to Z alphabet book. This book contains several historical events in its relationship to Thanksgiving, and its origins in North America.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanksgiving ABC’s

What a creative way to explain what Thanksgiving means! I really enjoyed reading this and learning some things in the process. Very well done!

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found in L4L Thanksgiving List 2024. Does talk some about how the Native Americans gave thanks to their “Great Creator”. Talks about women’s rights and how they didn’t have many in Plymoth

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a cute nonfiction children's book about Thanksgiving and the many different things associated with it.

[Willow · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Not one we'll keep.

[Elisa Pereyra-Molina]

This picture takes a reader through the alphabet A-Z and related each letter to the lives of pilgrims. This is based on historical events and introduces a child who is not familiar with American Indians to parts of the their culture. The pictures in this book are rich in color and are a back drop for the setting. In the margins the readers can find more in-depth details of the events or culture of the theme.

[Megan Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book follows the story of Thanksgiving from A to Z and how we came to celebrate it. The story of Thanksgiving goes all the way back to the Pilgrims, who sailed to America from across the sea, and met Indians when they arrived in the "New World". The Pilgrims and Indians got along, and both groups learned a lot from the other (how to grow/harvest crops, etc.). This book describes different parts of that story using the alphabet, A to Z. "Thanksgiving Day is spending time to remember the past and to be thankful for new beginnings."
I really liked this book! It was fun to read about the story of Thanksgiving using the alphabet! The illustrations were beautiful, and the words were wonderfully rhymed. Like Halloween, Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, so I enjoyed reading this book and learning a bit more about how the tradition we celebrate today got started.
I could definitely use this book in the classroom to read before Thanksgiving! It's also a good book to read about the Pilgrims (their journey on the Mayflower, hardships, etc.) and Indians and how they came to be friends; it's a good story about family and friendship, which is something that Thanksgiving is all about!

[Cyndi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has beautiful illustrations and teaches more than just the alphabet. There is a little poem about each letter and mostly relates to pilgrims and the foundation of America. On the side there it's detailed information about the subject. This way the book can be read to small children but older children will also benefit by learning more indepth information that a pre-k child would not be interested in. For instance, the letter talks about education and Sara Josepha Hale who petitioned for a day of Thanksgiving in our country. The detailed information talks about how she became a successful editor of a ladies magazine and her life's work to promote women's issues and education. This was way before Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

I wish the letters were a bit more prominent on the page since it is billed as an alphabet book.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an informative, but somewhat scattered alphabet book that sort-of has a Thanksgiving theme. The topics that are covered are all over the place and on several occasions I wondered how the topic connected to the theme of the book. It's just not all that coherent. The narrative is a bit long as well, so we could only cover part of the alphabet at a time.

The illustrations are colorful and glossy, with realistic people and depictions that help convey the various topics. We enjoyed reading this book together, especially the parts about the Native Americans like Samoset and Squanto, but it was a bit of a slog to get through.

[Lyndy Stein · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautifully illustrated book by Carol Crane that examines the lives of early settlers and the history of Thanksgiving. I love that it is an alphabet book too because each letter of the alphabet has a ton of information on the page. This would be a great book to use for a project a week or two before Thanksgiving. Students could each be assigned a letter to explore a little deeper to learn more about Thanksgiving.

[Rosa Cline · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very beautifully done book; but be aware it is for older children not the younger ones. The illustrations were very nicely done. There is a detailed description on each page talking about History of what that letter of the alphabet is talking about. Then another part of the page is smaller description. This is what I read to my nearly 4 year old granddaughter and even some of that I edited what I read to her. But it was fun just looking at the illustrations.

[Bayou des Cannes Cajun · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a nice book to use with a preschooler through K. The illustrations are captivating enough to hold attention and the focus sentences are to the point and interesting and concise. The pages each contain side informative paragraphs that are detailed enough to help a middle school age brush up on the subject matter.

[Madelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was actually very interesting to me. On top of teaching children about letters and the alphabet, they also get to learn about America. It's like two for the price of one. I learned a lot from reading this book and I was very intrigued. It says that it is for ages 5-7 which I felt was a little young, I would have felt like maybe 7-11 would have been more appropriate.

[Javen Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is definitely for grades 5th through middle school. This book has been one of my favorites that I have read so far! The author does a great job at putting the alphabet in sequential odder and then making the history of the pilgrims match with that particular alphabet. The illustration is fantastic and really makes the book that much more enjoyable!

[Rebecca Brandes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is PACKED full of information! There is a sentence that corresponds with the alphabet, but there is also extra information on the sides of the page. The facts help students gain a deeper knowledge of the time of Thanksgiving. Great book that can help differentiate learning!

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun way to learn about Thanksgiving

[Teri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Long--but you can choose whether to read the short rhyming verse or to read the elaboration.

[Marilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Thanksgiving alphabet book. Each letter has a detailed paragraph about something related to the history of the holiday.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love A-B-C books, and this is a great one for Thanksgiving. Beautiful illustrations, rhyming text, and additional information about the origins of Thanksgiving and its traditions.

[Little Champs]

H 46