Mary's First Thanksgiving: An Inspirational Story of Gratefulness

by Kathy-jo Wargin

Overview

Sometimes all it takes is a little faith …

Most days, Mary loves her new home in America. But now it’s Thanksgiving time, and her family has little food. Mary begins to wish she could go back to Ireland. So Father tells Mary the story of how the Pilgrims struggled when they first came to America. There were times when they had barely enough food, just like their family. But five kernels of corn helped the Pilgrims survive and helped make their faith stronger. Will the legend of the five kernels help grow a new faith in Mary too?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780310740759
Publisher:	Zonderkidz
Publication date:	08/28/2013
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.80(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	4 - 7 Years

About the Author

When Kathy-jo Wargin was a young girl, each night after dinner, her mother let her choose between washing the dishes or writing a poem. Before long, she decided that if she grew up to be a writer, she wouldn't have to do any dishes. She has since learned that even though she has published more than twenty award-winning books for children, she still has to wash the dishes. Kathy-jo lives in Minnesota with her husband and her son. Go to her website www.kathy-jowargin.com

Editorial Reviews

K-Gr 3

This insipid story of a newly immigrated 19th-century Irish family whose daughter feels the pain of separation from her homeland reiterates the origins of Thanksgiving. Mary's father introduces the story of the five kernels of corn, which is used to remind people of sacrifices made by the first colonists during "the starving time." Mary comes around and actually thinks of something she is thankful for. The accompanying paintings appear to be based on or re-created from photographs and reinforce the vapidity-despite their period clothes, the characters resemble Land's End catalog models more than Pilgrims. In one of them, Mary looks more like a spoiled 21st-century birthday child as she pulls her finger through a pie that is to be the only special dish at her family's feast table. Talk about gratefulness! This book has limited child appeal.-Lisa Egly Lehmuller, St. Patrick's Catholic School, Charlotte, NC

School Library Journal

Young Mary, newly arrived with her family from Ireland, has few friends, and her family doesn't have the extra money for a turkey. But her father helps her to find gratitude by telling her the story of the Pilgrims, extending the tale beyond the storied harvest to the hard times that followed, with each colonist restricted to five kernels of corn a day until finally their prayers were answered with rain. Papp's relentlessly lit spreads are peopled with some of the cleanest, best-fed Pilgrims and Irish immigrants in literature, complementing the highly directive subtitle to a T. The parenthetical "or else" may be unsaid, but certainly does not go unfelt. (Picture book. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews