Grades K – 2:

The First Thanksgiving
by Linda Hayward
48 pp.
The story starts in England in 1620, when the Pilgrims are setting sail for far-off America, leaving behind friends and safe homes. The reasons for their journey, the trials they endure while at sea, and all of their amazing adventures are detailed in this easy-to-read book.

Also available from the Scholastic Teacher Store.

This First Thanksgiving Day, A Counting Story
by Laura Krauss Melmed
From 1 to 12, count the ways the Wampanoag and Pilgrims get ready for their Thanksgiving feast! "Lots of smiles and counting practice result in a super read-aloud." – School Library Journal

It's Thanksgiving
by Jack Prelutsky
Twelve delicious Thanksgiving poems. "Prelutsky's beginner rhymes and rhythms are their usual skillful selves." – School Library Journal

The Pilgrims at Plymouth
by Lucille Recht Penner
48 pp.
A detailed account of the first Thanksgiving, from the Pilgrim's difficult journey and the conditions they encountered in the New World, to the education and sustenance they received from the Native American people who befriended them. Although it tells a familiar story, this colorful book put a human face on the historical facts and figures, adding new importance and dimension to our national holiday.

Thanksgiving Day
by Gail Gibbons
32 pp.
The origins and traditions of Thanksgiving, and how it is celebrated today are told with full-color illustrations.

Grades 3-6:

1621: A New Look at Thanksgiving
by Catherine O'Neill Grace and Margaret M. Bruchac
48 pp.
The first Thanksgiving from the perspective of a Wampanoag Indian. Story told through reenactment photos. "This is a fine book for the classroom; use it to talk about how history is written, who tells it, and what happened." – Booklist

Dear America: A Journey to the New World:
The Diary of Remember Patience Whipple, Mayflower, 1620
by Kathryn Lasky
A Pilgrim girl makes the exciting yet dangerous journey on the Mayflower to a new world, filled with the excitement of meeting Native peoples there as well as the trauma of a sickness that would take her mother's life.
Available from the Scholastic Teacher Store.

The First Thanksgiving
by Jean Craighead George
32 pp.
A retelling of the first Thanksgiving. "George returns – in specific, unsentimental detail – to the real historical events, quietly emphasizing the Native Americans' relationship with the land and the many things they taught the newcomers about using its bounty." – Kirkus Reviews

Harvest Festivals Around the World
by Judith Hoffman Corwin
48 pp.
Fifteen projects – like mask and doll making – to bring a global perspective to Thanksgiving festivities in the classroom