Celebrate everyday blessings, practice thankfulness, and observe the wonderful acts of service that keep us going each and every day. Eileen Spinelli, bestselling and award-winning children's author, charms with rhymes and whimsy in Thankful, perfect for any young reader and their family.
Little ones will snuggle up close as they enjoy this charming, cozy book about being thankful. From the local reporter to the doctor and pastor, children will delight as they explore the people of their town and what they are thankful for.
This heartwarming picture book for ages 4–8:
- Is an endearing story: While it shows the many things we have to be thankful for, it also showcases a parent's love for their child
- Focuses on blessings: Teaches children to be thankful for things or people that we tend to take for granted, including essential workers who keep our lives running
- Is meant to be read aloud: Fun for readers young and old, Eileen Spinelli uses a bouncy, rhyming text that is keep children engaged.
- A great read: Can be enjoyed year-round but especially during Valentines Day or Thanksgiving with its focus on love and gratefulness.
- A perfect gift: Whether it's for a baby shower or baptism, Christmas or birthday, this adorable picture book is sure to please.
Spinelli lists many things for which people are thankful. The pictures tell a pleasing counterpoint to this deceptively simple rhyme. It begins 'The waitress is thankful for comfortable shoes. / The local reporter, for interesting news.' The pictures show a little girl playing waitress to her brother, who playacts the reporter. The news gets interesting when the girl trips over the (omnipresent) cat. As the poem continues, the Caucasian children and their parents embody all the different roles and occupations it mentions. The poet is thankful for rhyme and the artist, for light and color, although the girl dancer is not particularly pleased with her brother's painterly rendition of her visual art. The cozy hotel for the traveler is a tent for the siblings in the backyard, and the grateful chef is their father in the kitchen. Even the pastor (the only character mentioned who is not a family member) is grateful, as he is presented with a posy from the girl, for 'God's loving word.' The line is squiggly and energetic, with pastel color and figures that float over white space or have whole rooms or gardens to roam in. Both children, grateful for morning stories, appear in a double-page spread surrounded by books and stuffed toys as their mother reads to them---an image that begs to be a poster. Low-key and gentle; a book to be thankful for. (Picture book. 4-7)
