Thanksgiving Day in Canada Children's Book Review

Even before Europeans settled in North America, they celebrated their thankfulness for food by filling a goat's horn with their fruit and grain. This was called a cornucopia or horn of plenty.

The first formal Thanksgiving ceremony was held in Newfoundland in 1578 by a British navigator named Martin Frobisher. He was celebrating a safe homecoming rather than a harvest. He was giving thanks for having returned safely from his search for the Northwest Passage.

In 1621 the Pilgrims, English settlers at Plymouth, Massachusetts, celebrated their first harvest in the New World in what eventually became the United States. In the 1600s, the French settlers in Canada celebrated with 'The Order of Good Cheer.' and in the 1750's settlers from The United States brought their celebrations to Canada.

In 1879 the Canadian Parliament decided that November 6th would be a celebration of Thanksgiving called Thanksgiving day and a national holiday. The date was changed over the years though until Parliament finally determined in 1957 that Thanksgiving would be observed on the second Monday each October. A great portion of the United States stays warmer longer than Canada and they therefore celebrate their harvest later than Canadians.

This book, however, deals with more than the simple history of the Canadian Thanksgiving. After the Grandfather shares the information with the children about the actual history of Thanksgiving Day, the book goes on to tell of the family traditions that the Grandmother had when she was a young girl. If Cooking Thanksgiving supper today is no fast or easy feat, imagine what it was like not too long ago when you did not even have a refrigerator. However, even in those days, there were definite family traditions that were followed every year.

The book Thanksgiving Day in Canada shares in story form the history and tradition of Thanksgiving Day and would be a great choice to share with your children whether you live in Canada or in the United States although it certainly does a nice job of explaining why Canada celebrates Thanksgiving Day and how the two countries settled on different days for this important holiday.

This book, by the way, is recommended for children aged 9 to 12. It is hard to find a good children's book with this Canadian perspective in it and I highly recommend this one.

Click here to order your copy of
Thanksgiving Day in Canada
from Amazon.

Born in 1948 in England, Krys is a Canadian performer, a musician and a songwriter. He has toured far and wide across Canada sharing his show, has done session work and created jingles for commercials and has worked for the Tommy Hunter Show in differing capacitites. He has been a ghost writer and written Verdigris, a book of poems. This book, Thanksgiving Day in Canada, is his first book for children.

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Click here to order this
Thanksgiving Cornucopia Cookie Bouquet
from Amazon.
$78.95