Story of Thankgiving

Turkey and cranberry sauce. Pumpkin pie. Family and friends around the table. That's what Thanksgiving means to us today. But has it always been this way?

Everyone knows that in 1621 the English Pilgrims and the Native American Wampanoags gathered together for a feast. But do you know what they ate and what games they played? And do you know how George Washington and Abraham Lincoln helped make Thanksgiving into the holiday that we know today?

From ancient Greece to medieval England to colonial America, people all over the world have celebrated their good fortune at harvesttime. Find out how their traditions have contributed to our modern Thanksgiving. And try your hand at making some delicious pumpkin muffins for your Thanksgiving table!

Robert Merrill Bartlett lived in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in a house built in 1660 by his ancestor Pilgrim Robert Bartlett. Ten generations of Barletts have lived in this historic house by the sea. Dr. Bartlett was a Congregational minister, a teacher, and an author of over twenty-five books in the field of biography, religion, and history, including The Pilgrim Way and The Faith Of The Pilgrims. He enjoyed sharing the story in this book with his children and grandchildren at Thanksgiving dinners in his Pilgrim house.

Sally Wern Comport has been making pictures professionally since the age of sixteen. Her images have been seen in the editorial, advertising, and publishing markets worldwide, and her work includes the picture book Brave Margaret: An Irish Adventure, by Robert D. San Souci. She lives in Annapolis, Maryland, with her studio partner -- husband and their two daughters, Taylor and Olivia, and she recently completed her graduate education at Syracuse University to further her passion for the art of illustration.