thanksgiving picture books thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Picture Books: THANKSGIVING MICE

Earlier this week I visited a local public library to take a look at

their picture books with the word "Thanksgiving" in the title. I did

not look at non-fiction or poetry, and I looked only at books

published from 1999 to 2007 that were on the "easy" shelf. I also

excluded books on the easy-to-read shelf and obviously could not read

those that were checked out at the time.

I read 18 books. Eleven of them had no references in text or

illustration to American Indians. They were stories primarily about

families getting together for Thanksgiving; many were about what the

family members are thankful for.

Seven of the 18 books included content (text or illustrations) about

American Indians. They include:

* Thanksgiving Mice, by Bethany Roberts

* Thanksgiving Day, by Anne Rockwell (there were six copies of this

one on the shelf)

* Look Who's in the Thanksgiving Play!: A Lift-the-Flap Story, by

Andrew Clements

* The Memory Cupboard, by Charlotte Herman

* The Thanksgiving Door, by Debby Atwell

* Fat Chance Thanksgiving, by Stacey Schuett

* This First Thanksgiving Day: A Counting Story, by Laura Krauss

Melmed

Perhaps the most striking observation is that 3 of the 7 books were

about doing a Thanksgiving play. It points to, I think, the degree to

which that practice is central to the Thanksgiving lesson plans that

teachers do in early childhood and elementary school classrooms. In a

series of posts this month, I'll discuss the books I read. I begin

with...

Thanksgiving Mice, by Bethany Roberts

The characters are mice. In the first four pages, they prepare the

props. The next scene is one of other critters coming in to see the

play. The stage has an easel announcing the play: "The Story of

Thanksgiving."

The play begins, and we see "Act 1" which is an English street scene.

A male and female mouse head for the dock to board their ship. They

male is shown in a black hat with a buckle, signifying Pilgrim. The

next few pages show the mice being seasick, hungry, thirsty. They

arrive at Plymouth Rock, build new homes, but are still hungry and

weak. Spring comes, and Act 2 begins. The text reads:

One day they met some friendly folks, who gave them corn to sow.

The "friendly folks" are represented on the page as a mouse wearing a

fringed shirt, trousers, blue beads, and a feather hanging down from

beneath his ear (no headband). He has a bowl of corn kernals and

offers one to the female mouse. On the next double-page spread is a

four-panel illustration, done that way to show the progression of

time. In the first panel the Indian watches/directs the Pilgrim man as

he plans the kernel of corn. The Indian is not in the next three

panels, or on the next two pages, where the mice are shown in the

midst of their abundant harvest of corn, squash, and pumpkins. On the

next page the text reads:

And so they said to their new friends, "Let's feast! Let's dance!

"Let's play!"

The Pilgrim female and the Indian male dance together. The next page

shows the players bowing before their cheering audience. The closing

page shows the mice, a squirrel, a bird, and two worms, and the text

reads:

Come one, come all, come feast with us---on this Thanksgiving Day!"

Thanksgiving Mice was published in 2001 by Clarion. It's illustrations

are by Doug Cushman. The reviewer in The Horn Book Guide gave it a '5'

which means "Marginal, seriously flawed, but with some redeeming

quality." Booklist's reviewer suggests it can be used as a "light

introduction to the holiday."

I'm not sure what the "redeeming quality" is, and I don't think it

should be used to introduce children to this holiday. What purpose

does it serve to teach young children this romantic story that is

little more than myth? All this feel-good stuff is junk that only has

to be unlearned later on. And, as I've said before on this blog, the

college students I teach feel betrayed by these feel-good lessons.

Perhaps James Loewen's book title captures it best. This simplified

story about Thanksgiving is among the "Lies My Teacher Told Me."

Some people ask me if I'd prefer to have nothing at all said. My

reply? I'd prefer nothing. To me, it is akin to "first do no harm." I

much prefer those books that leave out Native imagery completely, as

is the case with the Franklin books. (Franklin the turtle, that is!)

Children must be provided with honest instruction about the history of

this country.

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