Thanksgiving: A Time to Remember

by Barbara Rainey

There shall be "a day of public Thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God...."
-1789 Congressional Proclamation

A holiday for celebrating faith, family, and freedom, Thanksgiving Day is both distinctly Christian and exclusively American. Barbara Rainey has created an excellent resource for enabling you and your family to remember the past, recognize God's hand in our history, and express thankfulness to Him for His goodness today.

This story of the Pilgrims' faithfulness and biblical thankfulness is accompanied by a CD of songs of worship and praise that will call your hearts to gratitude. It's a wonderful opportunity to enrich your family's awareness of our nation's Christian heritage, provide models of courage and sacrifice for your children, and establish a tradition of sharing your gratefulness with one another, which will build a legacy of memories for the future.

Genres: Thanksgiving, History, Holiday, Nonfiction, Christian, Faith

80 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2002

About the author

Barbara Rainey is a wife, mother of six and grandmother of eight, speaker, and best-selling author of Moments Together with You. Barbara and her husband Dennis Rainey founded FamilyLife in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1976. Together they have coauthored 12 books, including Rekindling the Romance, Moments Together for Couples and Starting Your Marriage Right. Barbara is a frequent guest on FamilyLife Today(tm) radio broadcasts.

Reviews

[Christabelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

The kids enjoyed this! I think it made the story more real. We incorporated it into our homeschool doing a chapter a day and it wasn’t fast enough for them. One child kept asking if there was more because “it’s interesting.” I like the emphasis on faith. I felt like Rainey did a good job giving us the humility and heroism the pilgrims deserve while remembering the blessings of the native helpers. Definitely a seasonal reread.

[Debbie Long · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book that every family that celebrates a God inspired Thanksgiving should own. I learned history that I don't ever remember learning in school. At the end, it offers pages for your own family to record what you are thankful for each year and how you celebrated Thanksgiving each year plus it comes with a beautiful CD. This would be a great hostess gift or even engagement/wedding gift.

[Jody · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book made for both children and adults that tells the Pilgrim story with a focus on their faith and trust in God as well as the roots of our current Thanksgiving holiday. Designed to be read every year, there are pages in the back for families to record their own blessings. The book also includes a CD of instrumental hymns.

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book certainly had more of the story of Thanksgiving than others I have read. I cannot imagine doing what many of the Pilgrims did. I think I would have jumped back on the boat to go back to England.

[Ammie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fantastic. We had an audio cd to go along with it, as well as an instrumental cd. My only regret is that I didn't take this more seriously when I first came across it. Will repeat each year.

Thank you, Mrs. Rainey, for your heart for history and family.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful Thanksgiving re-telling with audio CD

[Lori Schmidt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great thanksgiving book about the history of the Pilgrims. Has larger writing to read to smaller kids and more in depth smaller writing to include for the older kids.

[Shanna Gonzalez · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book Barbara Rainey has provided Christian families with a unique rendition of the Thanksgiving story. Written for the whole family, the core of the story is given in large text for reading aloud, with more details for adults and teens added in smaller font and sidebars. At both reading levels, Rainey integrates many historic details and specific events, weaving them together in a readable story which progresses from the events leading up to the original Pilgrim feast to today's modern observance of the day.

Written from a particularly Christian perspective, this book does a great job drawing us into a spiritual meditation of God's gracious generosity, which we easily lose sight of in the midst of holiday hassles. Illustrated beautifully enough to be a coffee table book, it works as a long read-aloud for an upper-elementary audience, and its research is detailed enough to interest both teens and adults. There's a sizeable end section for recording family gratitude-lists, an instrumental cd to play during the holiday time, and (if you don't have time to read it aloud yourself) the entire book also comes in audio version. This is a great resource for Christian families who wish to be purposeful about their holiday observance.

[Stacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was written to be read aloud at Thanksgiving, sharing the Pilgrim's story. God is the hero in this hard tale, and it is a sobering reminder of God's hand in the beginning days of our nation. I would like to read this to my children next year. It has a shortened and extended version.

During snuggle time this morning I read the side bar on Massasoit to Eli. He is playing the part of Massasoit in his school celebration tommorrow. After I was done reading he leaned over and asked Emma, 'Emma, do you think Massasoit was a Christian?" In her very Emma way she gestured in a wave, "I don't know that, but I think he was a very little man."

Also, in the book, Emma saw a picture of Abraham Lincoln. "What did that John do?", she asked, "Were we rooting for him?"

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very nice little book written for younger readers, by following the larger print, and also for us older readers by reading all of the text. The author is the wife of a christian radio personality who has researched the accurate, christian story from original documents and journals, of the pilgrims. The book is out on a very nicely done audio version, as well, in which the readers sound very much like I would imagine the pilgrims to sound. This is a very enjoyable book for the family to read together at Thanksgiving time.

[Chelcey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love traditions and thanksgiving, so this book is always close by around this time of year. It has an amazing music CD with beautiful instrumental thanksgiving hymns and patriotic songs. Not to mention, it restores to TRUE, rich history of the real thanksgiving. It's important to pass this on to our children and stay focused on why we celebrate Thanksgiving.

[Amanda]

Will have to get this again sometime, since I didn't get a chance to read it before it was due at the library.

[Sherri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice combination of children's and adult story interwoven. Good artwork. It can either be read in full for adults or the noted areas as a children's book on the history of Thanksgiving .

[Danette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lunchtime Books

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book that should be read yearly. I read in preparation in telling the story of Thanksgiving to preschoolers.