30. The Thanksgiving Door (Russian)

30. The Thanksgiving Door

Debby Atwell

Houghton Mifflin Company Boston, 2003

31 pages

Multicultural

Russian

            I chose this book because it is one that had been recommended to me by a parent from the preschool I work at. I have a student whose grandparents are Russian and the parent suggested doing this book when I was speaking to her about the project. Ed and Ann were at home preparing the Thanksgiving dinner when Ann burned the food. After burning the meal they decide to go to a family restaurant who is having their family Thanksgiving dinner and forgot to close the door to the building. Ann and Ed make themselves at home while the family tries to scare them off. The grandmother finally speaks up and encourages the family that Thanksgiving is a day of family bonding. When asked what he was most thankful for later that night Ed said he was most thankful that Ann had burned their dinner.

            The illustrations in this book are done with oil colors and composed of many warm colors such as reds, oranges, and yellows. The illustrations capture the festivities of Thanksgiving day and the culture in an excellent manner. The text is in the negative space of the illustrations and each illustration is one full page.

            This book would be great for a language arts lesson to have each student write an essay about a different culture they are not familiar with or their own traditions for Thanksgiving. The book would also lead into an excellent social studies lesson, to discuss where the first Thanksgiving took place and how Thanksgiving originated. I liked this book because it showed the importance of Thanksgiving and families getting together and remembering all that they have to be thankful for as well as introducing a culture students may not be familiar with such as the Russian culture. This book does not have any awards.