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Saying Grace: A Prayer of Thanksgiving
Find special mealtime prayers and Thanksgiving activities inside! Grace's mind was racing. What was that spelling word that meant 'great generosity in giving'? She squeezed her eyes shut, and it came to her. Bounty. That was the word! Journey back in time with Grace and relive both the hardships and blessings along with her pioneer family. Saying Grace tells the story of one girl and her discovery of the value of mealtime prayer at her family's first Thanksgiving.
40 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2009
4 people are currently reading
33 people want to read
About the author
Virginia L. Kroll
69 books12 followersKroll has written numerous children's books since her career started in the mid-80's. Her first book was published in 1992. She started writing when she had her fourth child. Before that, she taught elementary school in Buffalo, NY. She also has written a number of books under the pseudonym Melrose Cooper to mask her tremendous output in so short a time.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
October 31, 2022
A made-up story about how saying grace may have begun.
Ages: 4 - 9
Cleanliness: nothing to note.
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Ages: 4 - 9
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 a Cleanliness Report, 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!
So Follow or Friend me here on GoodReads! And be sure to check out my bio page to learn a little about me and the Picture Book/Chapter Book Calendars I sell on Etsy!
December 19, 2020
This has lovely, vibrant illustrations. The storyline, however, was a bit odd. This was trying to be historical, but the time period, place, and culture were misrepresented somewhat. Strangely enough for this Puritan colony, only the little girl has the sudden idea that they should pray to thank God for their food, and it becomes the custom to "say Grace" before each meal, so named because the girl's name is Grace.
Historically, these people were devout Christians, who, upon landing on the shores of the new land, prayed Psalm 100 in gratefulness to God. It seems silly that, however many years later, they needed a little girl to come up with the idea to thank God in prayer.
So this story is just...kind of strange.
Historically, these people were devout Christians, who, upon landing on the shores of the new land, prayed Psalm 100 in gratefulness to God. It seems silly that, however many years later, they needed a little girl to come up with the idea to thank God in prayer.
So this story is just...kind of strange.
November 17, 2018
Cute story about a young girl that remembers to thank God for the blessings she and her community have received over the year and inspiring her family to keep up the tradition of "Saying Grace" within their home.
November 29, 2020
This was dumb and made-up. "Saying Grace" was not named after some kid named Grace. 'Grace' means 'Thanks,' and the kid was named after that, not the other way around. The story was so clearly made up and wrong that it lost all meaning.
September 8, 2019
This is like, the whitest white people book on earth. Pretty illustrations though.
November 22, 2014
I wanted to like this book: the illustrations, setting, and theme all appealed to me. However, the climax of the story is utterly unrealistic which stood out glaringly in a book that was attempting to be realistic, showing real-life, historic struggles of the time period.
The main character looks like a Pilgrim or Puritan girl (dressed not in the black and white clothes those of us over forty years old were taught that Pilgrims wore but in the more historically accurate clothes that you can see today worn by the reneactors at Plimouth Plantation.) Her name is Grace and her brother's is Isaiah. Her parents tell her to trust God and she reads her Bible. Yet, when the community sits down to a feast, no one remembers to thank God and are all about to start eating. In this devout community, only young Grace thinks to thank God? Certainly, there were early colonists who were NOT Puritans and NOT devout, but Grace's family is portrayed as Bible believers so it is completely unbelievable and unsatisfying when not one adult thanks God for their food before starting to eat. The book ends with the whole family deciding to pray before meals and calling it "saying grace" because the little girl Grace started the practice. Writing a completely made-up etymology of a commonly-used expression like "saying grace" is especially annoying to me when it's set in a book that appears to be historic fiction.
So despite the lesson of being thankful and the lovely illustrations, I am not keeping this on my shelves.
The main character looks like a Pilgrim or Puritan girl (dressed not in the black and white clothes those of us over forty years old were taught that Pilgrims wore but in the more historically accurate clothes that you can see today worn by the reneactors at Plimouth Plantation.) Her name is Grace and her brother's is Isaiah. Her parents tell her to trust God and she reads her Bible. Yet, when the community sits down to a feast, no one remembers to thank God and are all about to start eating. In this devout community, only young Grace thinks to thank God? Certainly, there were early colonists who were NOT Puritans and NOT devout, but Grace's family is portrayed as Bible believers so it is completely unbelievable and unsatisfying when not one adult thanks God for their food before starting to eat. The book ends with the whole family deciding to pray before meals and calling it "saying grace" because the little girl Grace started the practice. Writing a completely made-up etymology of a commonly-used expression like "saying grace" is especially annoying to me when it's set in a book that appears to be historic fiction.
So despite the lesson of being thankful and the lovely illustrations, I am not keeping this on my shelves.
October 24, 2012
Summary: We are taken back to pioneer times into Grace’s family. We experience the hardships and blessing of this time. During this story we are taken on the journey of a young girl and her discovery of mealtime prayer at her family’s first Thanksgiving!
Audience: This book is intended for students 4 and up.
Appeal: This story has interesting pictures and fun facts about a family's first Thanksgiving and the discovery of what prayer can do!
Implementation: In my classroom I want to talk about different religions we hear about and I feel like this could be a fun book for Christians. We would talk about how do we know this is a Christian book? We would look for clues such as the bible and discuss how this religion is different from others we have discussed.
Bibliography: Kroll, V. L., & Ladwig, T. (2009). Saying grace: a prayer of thanksgiving. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zonderkidz.
Audience: This book is intended for students 4 and up.
Appeal: This story has interesting pictures and fun facts about a family's first Thanksgiving and the discovery of what prayer can do!
Implementation: In my classroom I want to talk about different religions we hear about and I feel like this could be a fun book for Christians. We would talk about how do we know this is a Christian book? We would look for clues such as the bible and discuss how this religion is different from others we have discussed.
Bibliography: Kroll, V. L., & Ladwig, T. (2009). Saying grace: a prayer of thanksgiving. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zonderkidz.
January 21, 2012
I just read this book on Scribd as it is current online to read for free (not to download). This is a delightful Thanksgiving story and I'm going to have to buy it for our shelves. It is full of everything that Thanksgiving is truly about. What could be more important to share with your children than the faith and thanksgiving to Christ where it belongs in thanks for his grace to us all. I'm delighted by this book and will watch for more like it.
Online Storytime FREE read: http://www.scribd.com/doc/43333951/Sa...
Online Storytime FREE read: http://www.scribd.com/doc/43333951/Sa...
January 19, 2013
"People were saying that the coming winter would be long and hard."
I enjoyed the list of alliterations, detailed description of the sense of smell, and sound. The story in all wasn't super exciting. The compositions of the illustrations were nice.
I enjoyed the list of alliterations, detailed description of the sense of smell, and sound. The story in all wasn't super exciting. The compositions of the illustrations were nice.
November 25, 2010
A modern-day fable about how we got the term "saying grace."
January 26, 2013
Cute book for Thanksgiving time. Also tells a little bit about how life was back in the pioneer days.
November 26, 2019
A sweet book retelling the hardships & blessings of a pioneer family. They remember to thank God for his bounty.
11/25/19 Read with Naomi and Julia.
11/25/19 Read with Naomi and Julia.
November 6, 2012
This book has beautiful illustrations.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews