Best Thanksgiving Books For Toddlers and Preschoolers | Teach Your Toddler About Thanksgiving
Inside: List of 10 best thanksgiving kids books of all times. Thanksgiving books that toddlers and preschoolers love to read. Classic thanksgiving stories for kids that teach thanksgiving festival history and gratitude.
Thanksgiving is around the corner. And for parents, along with preparing for the traditional celebration, teaching and educating their kids about this great festival of gratitude also lies in their checklist.
If you are also one such parent who wants to introduce your kid to the concept of being thankful, then books are the best option you can choose. While enjoying delicious homemade treats and pies, they can read warm, creative, and thoughtful thanksgiving stories. Reading stories and books about thanksgiving to kids is one way to make them feel more involved.
The board books that are in this list have stories that deal with elements around thanksgiving like turkey, pumpkins, autumn season, etc. Buy thanksgiving books now and add them to your holiday books stash so that your child can read that every year around the Thanksgiving season.
Top 10 Thanksgiving Books For Children Of The Age Group 2 To 6
#1. Little Critter: Just a Special Thanksgiving By Mercer Mayer
Little Critter, Just a Special Thanksgiving is a perfect starter for toddlers who are new to the concept of thanksgiving. My elder son showed a lot of excitement and enthusiasm to read this book as Little Critter is one of his favorite characters.
This book deals with a short story that talks about how Little Critter is eagerly waiting for the upcoming thanksgiving. This time he is going to celebrate with his family as well as his friends from school.
Though this is a book that doesn’t talk about the origin of thanksgiving, it still gives an idea of what happens during the festival and engages kids with colorful illustrations.
A must-read basic thanksgiving storybook for all Little Critter fans out there!
#2. Thanksgiving Is for Giving Thanks!
Thanksgiving is for giving thanks is a cute book that talks about how kids can be thankful in the most cheerful way. It implants the concept of gratitude in young minds and how they can feel grateful about every little thing they are blessed with, which is what the holiday stands for.
This book teaches them how they can be thankful for being blessed with loving parents, teachers, friends, books, lollipops, and anything they enjoy. The book has simple sentences and easy-to-read words that are perfect for kids who are starting to read on their own.
Short, sweet, and intimate exactly like how we feel about thanksgiving, this book is a great choice to tell kids why we celebrate Thanksgiving.
#3. The Story of the Pilgrims By Katharine Ross
The story of the Pilgrims is an amazing book that talks about the history of the thanksgiving festival. Enjoy your Thanksgiving eve with your children explaining the story of how pilgrims and their wild journey across the Atlantic and how Indians treated them warmly.
It’s plain, simple, and has the right amount of information your kid needs to know about history. You don’t want to put them to sleep while reading the story, do you?
One of the Best thanksgiving book recommendations for active toddlers and curious preschoolers who want to know why we celebrate and glorify thanksgiving day.
#4. Thanksgiving in the Woods by Phyllis Aldruf
Thanksgiving in the Woods deals with a touching story of a family which celebrates Thanksgiving with their friends in the woods. Every year, this family unites with their friends, drives outside the city, and celebrates Thanksgiving with their friends.
This book takes pride in showing how this day is all about getting together as a community and having some time and good food. The illustrations are charming and alluring which will make our kids want to be there too.
Add this picture-perfect thanksgiving book to your thanksgiving collections. And treat your kids’ imagination with a story that lingers forever in their memory.
#5. Five Silly Turkeys By Salina Yoon
Stories with rhyming texts are always fun! Five Silly Turkeys by Salina Yoon is not a story about thanksgiving or its glory but a funny, rhyming song about turkey. Your toddler is going to find this catchy and they can murmur this when they take a dig at the turkey.
The board book is in the shape of a turkey and has cute illustrations that cover most of the pages with two-liner rhymes on every page.
Get their attention to read the book through the attractive label of this book. And fill your holiday with lots of giggles and wiggles by teaching them this funny thanksgiving rhyme about five silly turkeys.
#6. The Night Before Thanksgiving By Natasha Wing
When you want to give them a little reading time a day before Thanksgiving, The Night Before Thanksgiving is the right choice. It tells them what exactly to look forward to and how they can be helpful to make this event fulfilling and rewarding.
This book tells the story of a family where both kids and parents are eagerly prepping everything on Thanksgiving eve to welcome the day ahead. And there is a bonus rhyming thanksgiving eve song as well!
One of the most sought after from the series of ‘The Night Before’, this book scores with colorful illustrations and a heart-touching story.
#7. Balloons Over Broadway By Melissa Sweet
This award-winning thanksgiving board book by Melissa Sweet doesn’t need any introductions. Balloons over Broadway is an enthralling book that illustrates the real story of Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade in New York.
Kids get the most excited when they see a parade with giant balloons floating all over the sky. Getting your kids this book can open doors for them to learn about how these colorful parades came into existence.
With eye-catching illustrations on every page, this will surely be a repeat of your kid’s thanksgiving collections.
Give them a peek into the life of Tony Swag the famous puppeteer and creator of New York’s evergreen Macy’s Parade.
#8. How to Catch a Turkey by Adam Wallace
This fun and colorful book ‘How to catch a turkey’ is an incredible thanksgiving book choice. This book narrates the funny story of a turkey that has escaped from a school a day before thanksgiving. How the students chase it and catch it forms the rest of the story.
Written in a bold and clear way, the story also gives space to some STEM concepts making it the right option for inquisitive preschoolers.
Both the story and illustrations are easy on the eyes and mind. And it is surely going to fill their holidays with extreme fun. They can also learn many new words as well.
An excellent holiday present for toddlers and preschoolers!
#9. 10 Fat Turkeys By Tony Johnston
Bibble! Babble! Jibble! Jobble! Here is the classic and most favorite thanksgiving book of children of age group 2 to 5. 10 Fat Turkeys is a whimsical story of 10 fat turkeys and their funny antics. They swing, dance and do many fun things while all of them disappear one by one.
So, as each page goes, they will count the turkeys but in backward order. This is going to be a goofy challenge for toddlers when they are becoming counting experts.
With perfectly drawn illustrations and easy to capture words, this book has all of their attention till the last page.
10 Fat Turkeys will surely win the hearts of little buds who are eager to take part in their first thanksgiving celebrations.
#10. Bear Says Thanks By Karma Wilson
Again, another exceptional book that talks about the magnitude of gratitude. This book has a heartwarming story of a bear that decides to throw a Thanksgiving feast without having anything in its home.
How it unites with its friends and finally enjoys a feast while also understanding its contribution even though it didn’t bring anything to the table forms the rest of the story.
At a very young age, kids get introduced to concepts like acceptance, selfless contribution and ‘appreciating little efforts’ through this book.
And the sketches on each page can even hook adults. Wanna try? Buy ‘Bear Says Thanks’ here.
Finally,
Thanksgiving day is all about spending a good time with family, cousins, and friends. Along with carrying forward the traditions, let’s be the torch bearers of virtues and values too. With the help of the above books, we can easily instill what thanksgiving is really about and how they can cherish it as they grow up.
It’s these cute little memories they are going to associate themselves to and share with their children once they grow old. Let’s make it worthwhile with the best set of resources (books) that they can store for generations.
