I read a few books over the last week and meant to post the reviews pre-Thanksgiving. Time flew by and before I knew it, it was post-Thanksgiving. So here they are anyway along with other books we have read (some to do with the coming holiday season and inspiring me to read more holiday books)

Fancy Nancy: Our Thanksgiving Banquet by Jane O’connor (Author), Robin Preiss Glasser (Illustrator) – A cute story of a family Thanksgiving dinner (oops, banquet) with wonderful illustrations and a chance to expand your kid’s vocabulary, as always is the case with anything Fancy Nancy. This story does not have a message or teach the meaning/history of Thanksgiving but just is a retelling of events at their Thanksgiving dinner and being thankful for family.

The Gingerbread Boy – Illustrated by Scott Cook – This charming rendition of ‘The Gingerbread Boy’ has wonderful illustrations – the oil paintings rendered by Cook are lively and energetic while at the same time being fresh and with soft hues. You can see the joy on the gingerbread boy’s face, the characters leaping to catch him seem to leap
right out of the page and you can almost the gingerbread! I loved this so much that I am going to pick up the other books illustrated by Cook as well soon (and they include ‘The Christmas Carol’ – perfect for the season, ‘A Net To Catch Time’ and more)

Molly’s Pilgrim by Barbara Cohen – This was a book my son had for a reading assignment at school and he brought it home to complete it. I picked it up as he had questions about something and wanted me to check it out with him. I ended up reading the book – is really a short book so was fast but being a quick read did not deter the book from it’s message. Molly’s Pilgrim is a wonderful story which teaches that being different is OK and also teaches values of tolerance and friendship and gives us more to be thankful for. Molly is a Jewish immigrant from Russia at the turn of the century. When her family moves from New York (where there were  more kids like her at school) to a small town (where she is the only one), Molly is teased and taunted at school for her differences. When the teacher assigns a Thanksgiving project to make a Pilgrim doll, her mother makes one that looks unlike the other pilgrim dolls which her classmates bring which leads to more taunts. What the teacher teaches them after seeing Molly’s doll is wonderful – the true meaning of giving Thanks.
And You Can Come Too by Ruth Ohi – Are you running away, little one? Don’t forget to take your family along.. and some objects of comfort (blankets, your teddy), some food, daddy to tell you a story and mommy to hug you tight.. and don’t run too far from home (the backyard sounds good). The little girl plans to run away from home and this turns into a fun family outing – overnight one – right in their backyard! I discovered Ruth Ohi a few days ago as part of PiBoIdMo and this book just recently – the illustrations are charming and sweet, the story is something that can easily happen at home and will be reread many times.

A wonderful selection of illustrated books for 2011 that I saw at brainpickings –
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2011/11/21/best-childrens-books-2011/

All these books go towards the Picture Book Challenge.

Monday Memes – It’s Monday!
What are you reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Journey. It is a time when we share what we’ve read, currently reading, or what is up next on our reading list.
Completed reading: Books reviewed here and not much else…

Currently reading: ‘American Rust’ (re-borrowed it from the library on the Kindle again and hope I can finish it this time around),  ‘The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate’, as well as started reading ‘The Sari Shop’ by Rupa Bajwa.
Next to read: Maid to Match (was on currently reading sometime back but put it away as I own the Kindle edition while the others are library rentals)