The Perfect Thanksgiving - Eileen Spinelli
Thanksgiving isn't about having the "perfect" day.
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- Author:Eileen Spinelli
- # of pages: 32
- Publisher:Henry Holt & Company, Inc.
- Original Publication Date: 11/17/2003
- Genre: Fiction - Holiday
- Hardcover: $15.95
- Publisher's Recommended Reading Level: 4-8
- Read Aloud: 4+
- Read Alone: 7+
Parents need to know
Families can talk about what makes a holiday meaningful. What's important to you at Thanksgiving? What about the other holidays your family celebrates? How are your friends' celebrations similar to -- or different from -- your own?
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Common Sense says
What's the story?
Reviewed by Amy Brotman
Is it any good?
Is one family's way of celebrating a holiday better than another's? The author of this colorful story says no. She compares and contrasts a "perfect" family's Thanksgiving Day with that of a more ragtag crew and finds them to be equally good because of the love that is apparent in each family. It is not the family's style that counts, but the feelings between the family members.
The humorous story is written from the child's point of view and focuses on just the sorts of things that a child might notice. As the young narrator goes down her list of things that are right about Abigail's family and wrong about her own, the reader can tell that she fears that her family will not make the grade. Happily, in the end, she can see beneath the contrasting exteriors of the two families to the close-knit feelings in each. The gouache, colored pencil, and collage art is zany, contemporary, and attractive.
From the book:
My family and the Archers
are different-this I know.
We can't tell peas from green legumes
or snails from escargots.
But we're alike in one way,
the nicest way by far-
alike in just how loving
our different families are.
Other choices
Also by Eileen Spinelli
Thanksgiving at the Tappleton's
More Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is Here by Diane Goode
Parents and kids say



