Old Fashioned Thanksgiving

Grade 4-5-- When their parents are called away to care for an ailing grandmother, seven children continue preparations for the family's Thanksgiving meal, hoping to surprise and cheer their parents on their return. And although the plum pudding is rock-hard and the turkey stuffing bitter, the children's efforts are appreciated, and the holiday gathering is enjoyed by all. A high-spirited, good-humored account of a rural, 19th-century New Hampshire Thanksgiving, this story demonstrates Alcott's belief that health, hard work, and cheery good will are of greater value than wealth and position. Her description of children gives the impression that she both understood and liked them. This new edition is handsome, both in layout and in illustration. McCurdy's nine, colored-wood engravings are arresting, and are in great contrast to Holly Johnson's many, homey drawings done for an earlier edition (Lippincott, 1974). Johnson's drawings are perhaps more in keeping with the realistic and homespun nature of Alcott's story, but there's much pleasure to be had in the fine quality of McCurdy's artwork. --Cynthia Bishop, Onondaga County Public Library, Syracuse, NY
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