Review: WHY WE HAVE THANKSGIVING by Margaret Hillert

I love love love Margaret Hillert. Her simple primers are absolutely great to use with beginning readers. Her stories, particularly the fairytales, 'click' with kids, and Margaret constructs her text so that children really feel like they've accomplished something wonderful when they've finished reading one of her books for themselves.

One of my favorite Hillert books is "WHY WE HAVE THANKSGIVING". It's simple text along with Dan Siculan's wonderful illustrations are, oddly enough, one of THE BEST Thanksgiving books I've found for wee ones. And, in fact, I have been reading this book for a few years with my 8 year-old son, not because he can't read it himself (he just tested at the 6th Grade level :), but because the illustrations really bring home what the Pilgrims experienced.


Here are the introductory paragraphs:

I want you to go here.
You have to do what I want.
Go here. Go here.

(The drawing shows the king telling two disheartened Pilgrims where they need to go. The next picture shows four men gathered in a room talking.)

We do not want to go there.
We do not like it.
We want to do what we like.

(What child can't understand that sentiment)
(The next image is from a dungeon! It shows an armed guard forcing to men into a jail cell.)

You can not do what you like.
Get in here.
Get in here.
This is the spot for you.

(The next image covers two pages and shows the men with their feet in blocks. They look miserable and are surrounded by rats.)

We do not like this.
Oh, we do not like this.
What can we do?
What can we do?

We can go away.
Yes, we can go away.
That is what we can do.
We can go in a boat.
A big, big boat.

WHY WE HAVE THANKSGIVING then shows, through the eyes of two children, the Pilgrims boarding a boat. But they aren't going to America. Instead the next pictures show the children wearing wooden shoes while they are in the Netherlands. But as we know, that is short lived, and before you know it, the boy and girl are boarding another boat, this time to cross the Atlantic ocean.

Once in America, children will see Pilgrims building a communal house and then individual homes. The Pilgrim boy and girl are soon startled by the arrival of an Indian, but then delighted as he shows them how to plant corn with fish.

I think WHY WE HAVE THANKSGIVING is about as good a Thanksgiving book as you are likely to find for children reading at the beginning First Grade level.  The text by itself certainly wouldn't tell the story, but with the aid of Dan Siculan's wonderful drawings, I think this book explains a great deal of the Thanksgiving Story.


Why We Have Thanksgiving
by Margaret Hillert
Dan Siculan (Illustrator)


Reading Information:
Word Count: 353
Page Count: 31

Accelerated Reader: 1.0 / points: 0.5

AR quiz: 9398

Here are other listings at Amazon. (There are multiple listings, variety of prices)
--Why We Have Thanksgiving Hardcover – March 1, 1981
--Why We Have Thanksgiving Paperback – May 1, 1981 


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