Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving

Pilkey, Dav

ISBN 10: 0531085058 ISBN 13: 9780531085059

Publisher: Orchard Books, 1990

Synopsis

School children on a field trip to Mack Nugget's farm save the lives of eight turkeys in this poem based on "The Night Before Christmas"

About this title

About the Author:

"Considered one of the most popular contemporary authors for readers in elementary school, (Dav Pilkey) is also regarded as a talented artist and inventive humorist as well as a subtle moralist. ...He underscores his works--even at their most outrageous--with a philosophy that emphasizes friendship, tolerance, and generosity and celebrates the triumph of the good-hearted."
-The Educational Book & Media Association

Dav Pilkey is the Caldecott Honor Award-winning creator of more than 40 books for children.

From School Library Journal:

Pilkey has adapted Clement Moore's classic poem for another holiday. The day before Thanksgiving finds eight boys and girls of various races taking a field trip to a turkey farm. Although Farmer Mack Nuggett seems kind at first, the children eventually discover his horrible plan to kill the turkeys for Thanksgiving dinners. Smuggling the turkeys home with them, the children save the birds, who join eight families for vegetarian dinners. The weakest part of this slapstick offering is the verse, in part because the story isn't at all parallel to Moore's and in part because of the stretches in rhyme to accommodate a pre-existing pattern. Some of the word play will escape children. Similarly, visual humor such as the placement of Farmer Nuggett and the teacher in an "American Gothic" pose will remain unappreciated by those too young for Grant Wood. The cartoon illustrations reinforce the story's general silliness but are unremarkable in themselves. Those seeking Thanksgiving humor will better served by Marc Brown's Arthur's Thanksgiving (Little, 1983), while those looking for a human-turkey relationship should dust off Lorna Balian's Sometimes It's Turkey, Sometimes It's Feathers (Abingdon, 1986). --Kathy Piehl, Mankato State University, MN
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Orchard Books
• Publication date: 1990
• ISBN 10: 0531085058
• ISBN 13: 9780531085059
• Binding: Library Binding
• Edition number: 4
• Number of pages: 32