M. C. Hall - Thanksgiving

ISBN 978-1-62513-856-9 (e-book)

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Photo credits: Courtney Weittenhiller/iStockphoto, cover; Tom Stewart/Photolibrary, 1, 4; Monkey Business/Fotolia, 3; Bill
SykesCultura/Getty Images, 5; iStockphoto, 6; Library of Congress, 7, 9, 12, 14; SuperStock/Getty Images, 8; Rolf Fischer/
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Editor: Holly Saari

Cover and page design: Kazuko Collins

Content Consultant: Laura M. Chmielewski, PhD, Assistant Professor of History, Purchase College, State University of
New York

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hall, Margaret, 1947
Thanksgiving / M.C. Hall.
p. cm. -- (Little world holidays and celebrations)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-61590-239-2 (hard cover) (alk. paper)
ISBN 978-1-61590-479-2 (soft cover)
1. Thanksgiving Day--Juvenile literature. I. Title.
GT4975.H36 2010
394.2649--dc22

2010009914

Rourke Publishing
Printed in the United States of America, North Mankato, Minnesota
030411
030411LP-B

They are celebrating Thanksgiving!

Each fall, farmers . For

hundreds of years, people have had feasts to

celebrate and give thanks for the food they grow.

One important harvest feast took place almost

400 years ago.

In 1620 people from England sailed to America.

They came to make a new home. These

.

The first winter in America was very hard. The

colonists did not have enough to eat. About half

of them died.

A Native American , the Wampanoag, lived

nearby. In the spring the Wampanoags helped

the colonists.

The Wampanoags showed the colonists how to

grow new crops, such as corn and pumpkins.

That fall the colonists had a feast to celebrate their

harvest. They asked the Wampanoags to come.

The feast lasted for three days. Many people

call this feast the first Thanksgiving.

After the first Thanksgiving, many people set

aside a day to feast and give thanks each year.

President Abraham Lincoln set aside a day to give

thanks in 1863. Today we celebrate Thanksgiving

on the fourth Thursday in November.

Thanksgiving is a day to spend with family and

friends. Many people travel a long way to be together.

Sharing a big meal is one Thanksgiving

. Many people eat turkey, stuffing,

and cranberries.

Parades are another Thanksgiving tradition.

Some towns and cities have parades to

celebrate the holiday.

There is a big Thanksgiving Day parade in New

York City. It has many large balloons. Millions of

people watch the parade each year.