- commonly displayed and on suggested Thanksgiving book lists
- briefly tells story of Sarah Hale
- feminist-bent throughout
- illustrations, though clever, encourage negative behavior
Type: picture book
Ages: 5-9
Author: Laurie Halse Anderson
Illustrator: Matt Faulkner
What could have been a really interesting historical story was told in an almost worshipful way of this lady, Sarah Hale. I’m sure she did some good things (i.e., of course it’s good to oppose slavery), but this whole book (words + art) gets you all charged up and angry (the general feminist attitude).
Didn’t let the kids read this one. There are plenty of better Thanksgiving books out there! 🦃🌽
Update a couple years later: I recently read such a lovely biographical description of Sarah Hale, including some of her original written work (A Treasury of Thanksgiving by Leland Ryken, pages 85-88). There was a much more Christian, God-honoring angle that I’ve yet to see in any picture book telling her story. If you know of one that balances this more, please let me know!