Sharing the Bread: An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving Story - Hardcover

Miller, Pat Zietlow

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0307981827 ISBN 13: 9780307981820

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade, 2015

Synopsis

Celebrate food and family with this heartwarming Thanksgiving picture book. We will share the risen bread. / Our made-with-love Thanksgiving spread. / Grateful to be warm and fed. / We will share the bread. In this spirited ode to the holiday, set at the turn of the twentieth century, a large family works together to make their special meal. Mama prepares the turkey, Daddy tends the fire, Sister kneads, and Brother bastes. Everyone—from Grandma and Grandpa to the littlest baby—has a special job to do. Told in spare, rhythmic verse and lively illustrations, Sharing the Bread is a perfect read-aloud to celebrate the Thanksgiving tradition.

"A warm and wonderful holiday treasure." —Publishers Weekly, Starred

"A paean to the pleasures of Thanksgiving, with rhymes so musical readers may just burst into song." —The Wall Street Journal

"A delightful holiday book that shows the heartwarming tradition of food and family." —Booklist
 

About this title

About the Author:

Pat Zietlow Miller received an Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Honor for Sophie's Squash, her picture-book debut, which was the recipient of four starred reviews, a Charlotte Zolotow Honor, and a Golden Kite Award. She is also the author of Wherever You Go. Thanksgiving is her favorite holiday, and every year her family works together to make a meal, almost as well as the family in this book. Pat lives in Madison, Wisconsin. Visit the author at patzietlowmiller.com.
 
Jill McElmurry has illustrated many picture books for children, including the bestseller Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle, The Tree Lady by H. Joseph Hopkins, and Mario Makes a Move, which she also wrote. When she was fifteen, her family was invited to Thanksgiving in a giant Queen Anne–style Victorian house. Every table was laden with gorgeous treats, and she ate so much she couldn’t stand up straight for two days. Jill lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Learn more at jillmcelmurry.com.

From School Library Journal:

K-Gr 2—Everyone helps prepare Thanksgiving dinner in this new holiday offering set in the 19th century. From fetching the cooking pot to folding pilgrim hats, each of the 10 members in this family has a job to do. Narrated by the younger brother in rhyming four-line verse, each spread highlights one aspect of the meal preparations and the relative responsible for it: sister kneads the bread dough, grandpa cooks the berries, auntie mashes the potatoes, etc. The youngster's excitement with the day is conveyed through repetition and simple rhymes and rhythm that mirror the ease with which the family works together in anticipation of their meal. McElmurry's illustrations depict a traditional middle-class family in aprons over their Sunday best. The gouache on watercolor paper affords a three-dimensional, old-fashioned quality to the setting and characters, while the ever-present family dog and cat offer relatable detail for today's digital natives. Muted tones of brown, gray, blue, and black dominate the color scheme and lend authenticity to this celebratory tribute to our national holiday. VERDICT This book captures the spirit of a traditional Thanksgiving dinner but may require hand-selling to kids to secure a trip to the circulation desk.—Lynn Van Auken, Oak Bluffs School, MA

About this edition

• Publisher: Schwartz & Wade
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0307981827
• ISBN 13: 9780307981820
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: McElmurry Jill