Thanksgiving Picture Books

A selection of picture books for the Thanksgiving season, highlighting celebrations of all kinds.
Updated October 2, 2022
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The Thanksgiving Door
Debby Atwell
Paper Book
When Ed and Ann's turkey dinner burns, they think their Thanksgiving is ruined. But what appears to be a disaster becomes a blessing in disguise when Ed and Ann unknowingly intrude on an immigrant family's own Thanksgiving celebration at their new restaurant, The New World Café. Once...
Over the River and Through the Wood
Lydia Maria Child
Paper Book
Matt Tavares's lavish illustrations illuminate this definitive edition of a beloved seasonal classic.The horse is ready, the air is bracing, and everyone is bundled into the sleigh. So let the wind blow and the snow start to fall! This family is off to Grandfather's house for a delicious feast. Matt...
Cranberry Thanksgiving
Wende Devlin
Paper Book
Today was Thanksgiving, Grandmother's favorite day of the year. The cooking was done and her famous cranberry bread was cooling on the wooden board. Every year Grandmother invited a guest for dinner and allowed Maggie to do the same. "Ask someone poor or lonely," she always said. She wasn...
Thank You, Sarah: The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving
Laurie Halse Anderson
Paper Book
From the author of Speak and Fever, 1793, comes the never-before-told tale of Sarah Josepha Hale, the extraordinary "lady editor" who made Thanksgiving a national holiday! Thanksgiving might have started with a jubilant feast on Plymouth's shore. But by the 1800s...
Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade
Melissa Sweet
Paper Book
From Caldecott Honor artist Melissa Sweet comes the perfect Thanksgiving Day picture book. Let's have a parade! Meet the master puppeteer who invented the first balloons for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Melissa Sweet brings to life the inspirational story of the puppeteer who...
Thanksgiving Treat
Catherine Stock
Paper Book
Join one special family as they get together to create some tasty Thanksgiving treats in this charming holiday story. With Thanksgiving just around the corner, everyone is very busy. Grandma is stuffing the turkey. Dad is chopping firewood. The cousins are shucking corn. But the...
Turkey Trouble
Wendi Silvano
Paper Book
Turkey is in trouble. Bad trouble. The kind of trouble where it's almost Thanksgiving...and you're the main course. But Turkey has an idea--what if he doesn't look like a turkey? What if he looks like another animal instead? After many hilarious attempts, Turkey comes up with the...
Thanksgiving in the Woods
Phyllis Alsdurf
Paper Book
A true holiday classic, this cozy autumn story invites readers to join in an outdoor Thanksgiving feast, full of cheer and generosity of spirit Every year a family and their friends gather in the woods to celebrate Thanksgiving among the trees. Everyone brings something to share and the...
Thanksgiving at the Tappletons'
Eileen Spinelli
Paper Book
You're invited! Join the Tappletons, the nicest bunch of wolves ever, for a very special Thanksgiving meal. Everyone has a job to do. Mrs. Tappleton is making the turkey. Mr. Tappleton is buying the pies. Kenny is in charge of the salad. Jenny is mashing the potatoes. It seems like...
Sarah Gives Thanks: How Thanksgiving Became a National Holiday
Mike Allegra
Paper Book
During the nineteenth century, Sarah Josepha Hale dedicated her life to making Thanksgiving a national holiday, all while raising a family and becoming a groundbreaking writer and women's magazine editor. Sarah Hale's inspiring story, accompanied by luscious watercolor illustrations, tells the tale...
Squanto's Journey: The Story of the First Thanksgiving
Joseph Bruchac
Paper Book
In 1620 an English ship called theMayflowerlanded on the shores inhabited by the Pokanoket people, and it was Squanto who welcomed the newcomers and taught them how to survive in the rugged land they called Plymouth. He showed them how to plant corn, beans, and squash, and how to hunt...
The Memory Cupboard: A Thanksgiving Story
Charlotte Herman
Paper Book
For Katie, nothing compares to Thanksgiving at Grandma's. There are the aunts and uncles, whom Katie loves to see each year. But a cherished object is broken at dinner, and Katie blames herself for spoiling the day.
Sharing the Bread: An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving Story
Pat Zietlow Miller
Paper Book
Celebrate food and family with this heartwarming Thanksgiving picture book. We will share the risen bread. / Our made-with-love Thanksgiving spread. / Grateful to be warm and fed. / We will share the bread. In this spirited ode to the holiday, set at the turn of the twentieth century, a large...
The Berenstain Bears and the Prize Pumpkin
Stan Berenstain
Paper Book
Join the Berenstain Bears as they celebrate Thanksgiving and count their blessings. Makes a perfect gift with over 50 bonus fall-themed stickers! This Berenstain Bears story is a perfect way to teach children about what they should truly be thankful for. Come for a visit in Bear...
An Outlaw Thanksgiving
Emily Arnold McCully
Paper Book
Caldecott Medalist Emily Arnold McCully's delightful new story is based on a real Thanksgiving banquet given in Brown's Hole, Utah, in the 1890's by Butch Cassidy and his gang. In November 1896, Clara Maher and her mother are traveling by train across the United States when snow blocks the tracks in...
Rivka's First Thanksgiving
Elsa Okon Rael
Paper Book
To the Rabbi Yoshe Preminger, Sir, My Bubbeh believes you are the wisest man in the whole world, but I cannot agree with her. You have read a thousand books, but you do not seem to understand that immigrants came to America to escape from mean, wicked people who hurt them and their families. That...
Fangsgiving
Ethan Long
Paper Book
Geisel Award-winning author and illustrator Ethan Long turns his attention to the day of thanks with a story that's to die for. It's the fourth Thursday of November, and the members of Fright Club are cooking up something spooky . . . a Thanksgiving feast! But...
’Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving
Dav Pilkey
Paper Book
From Dav Pilkey, creator of the New York Times bestselling Dog Man and Captain Underpants series, comes a tall tale of tall-tailed toms!School children on a field trip to Mack Nugget's farm save the lives of eight turkeys in this poem based on "The Night Before Christmas."
Arthur's Thanksgiving
Marc Brown
Paper Book
Arthur finds his role as director of the Thanksgiving play a difficult one, especially since no one will agree to play the turkey.

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