Children’s Thanksgiving stories that model an attitude of gratitude!

Happy Thanksgiving! It is said that gratitude is most naturally taught by example. I can not think of a better time than Thanksgiving to curl up and read these stories that model gratitude for kids in such an engaging way.

Here are my three favorite Children’s Thanksgiving stories that model an attitude of gratitude!

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The Thankful Book

by Todd Parr

The Thankful Book begins with the statement, “Every day I try to think about the things I am grateful for.”

Children are enthralled by the bright pictures, relatable language and humor of this book. They are also learning to recognize the good all around them and be grateful for it. With one line of text on each page, The Thankful Book is great for preschool, kindergarten and early primary students!

Parr covers a wide variety of people, places and things to be thankful for that we often take for granted – from the ‘everyday’ to the ‘special’ to the downright silly!

This is a great fit for mindfulness and religious education programs. Teach older grades? The Thankful Book is the ideal story to use as a mentor text to teach your students how to write a simple gratitude journal – and consider the magic that could happen if your students co-created a Thankful Book with their Reading Buddies!

Winnie the Pooh’s Thanksgiving

by Bruce Talkington, Illustrated by John Kurtz

Winnie the Pooh’s Thanksgiving is the most well-loved Thanksgiving story in our home. I have many fond memories of reading it to our kids as they were growing up. The long sentences and general length of the story were too much for some of my kindergarten classes, but worked well with first grade students.

Winnie the Pooh has called his friends together for a feast after becoming ‘suddenly aware’ of how special things like breakfasts, sunsets, birthdays, etc. can be. In his words:

“…I knew it was something I had to share with those I’m most grateful for.”

This statement leads to a conversation in which all of the animal friends share what they are grateful for. After every ‘smackeral’ is eaten, Christopher Robin joins the conversation and explains Thanksgiving. Warm fuzzies.

 

Thanks for Thanksgiving

by Julie Markes, Illustrated by Doris Barrette

Thanks for Thanksgiving is a rhyming story with a great pace.  Young children are interested from beginning to end, and there is a comforting warmth within its pages. Each page begins by modeling the language of gratitude with “Thank you for” or “Thanks for”. As a kindergarten teacher, I really appreciate the repetition for students needing extra oral language support!

This book is relatable to many children, with familiar things that children of many backgrounds might feel grateful for, Thanksgiving or not. This story prompted wonderful discussion in my kindergarten class, as many children wanted to share personal experiences related to the book.

My family celebrates Thanksgiving

by Lisa Bullard

My family celebrates Thanksgiving  is about a young girl, Grace, who is grateful for Thanksgiving because of what it means to her personally. While she can explain its origins, she makes it clear that it is special to her because she celebrates Thanksgiving by enjoying turkey, pies and other seasonal favorites in the company of her extended family. The illustrations do a great job of showing a close relationship between family members, with hands held around the table, for example.

What are your favorite Thanksgiving stories? Click here for a free playlist of Thanksgiving stories read aloud!

Best wishes to you and yours for a Happy Thanksgiving!

 

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