This Is the Feast

Shore, Diane Z

ISBN 10: 0066237955 ISBN 13: 9780066237954

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2008

Synopsis

This is Thanksgiving, a time to remember the friendships and freedoms we all share together.

When the Pilgrims embarked on their legendary Mayflower voyage in 1620, they couldn't predict what lay ahead of them. In search of religious freedom and a new life, the settlers faced hardships including harsh storms, illness, and unfamiliar terrain. Thanks to their natural perseverance and the help of their neighbor Indians, the Pilgrims survived their first year. And when the harvest the next fall was plentiful, the Pilgrims and the Indians joined together in a three-day celebration, the first Thanksgiving.

Diane Z. Shore's lyrical, rhythmic verse and Megan Lloyd's lively, joyful illustrations bring the Pilgrims' harrowing experience to life and demonstrate the strong bonds for which we give thanks every year.

About this title

About the Author:

Diane Z. Shore and Jessica Alexander have collaborated on several children's books, including This Is the Dream and This Is the Game. One thing they have learned while cowriting stories is that when people work together, great things can happen. Both authors live with their families in metro Atlanta, Georgia.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 2–5—The epic tale of the Pilgrims' first year at the Plymouth settlement is told in verse. Beginning with the Mayflower's journey across the ocean and concluding with the three-day harvest celebration and feast, the struggles and successes of the year are described. Each good turn of events is commemorated with a "Thanks be to God..." appropriate to the Pilgrims' religious motives. The difficult journey and early loss of lives are mentioned along with the discovery of the cleared Patuxet fields and baskets of corn. Squanto, "this wise, clever man," is given credit for helping the Pilgrims by teaching them the skills they needed to survive. It's during the "Feast the Pilgrims prepared" that some long-standing inaccuracies are most apparent. How the Indians participated in and contributed to the Thanksgiving celebration is reduced to the statement that they "shared in the singing and dancing." This omission flaws an otherwise mostly balanced retelling of one of our country's earliest stories. Richly colored and detailed illustrations match the proportions of the events; however, the mentions of "death and disease" and "days of despair" are not reflected in the pictures. Only one apparently ill man is shown amid a room full of robust women and children preparing a meal of roasted fowl and fresh produce. Kate Waters's Giving Thanks: The 1621 Harvest Feast (Scholastic, 2001) and Joseph Bruchac's Squanto's Journey: The Story of the First Thanksgiving (Harcourt, 2000) are better. Larger collections may have room for Shore's title, too.—Carol S. Surges, McKinley Elementary School, Wauwatosa, WI
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About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0066237955
• ISBN 13: 9780066237954
• Binding: Library Binding
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Lloyd Megan