Thankful

(Hardback)

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Description

Celebrate everyday blessings, practice thankfulness, and observe the wonderful acts of service that keep us going each and every day. Eileen Spinelli, bestselling and award-winning children's author, charms with rhymes and whimsy in Thankful, perfect for any young reader and their family.

Little ones will snuggle up close as they enjoy this charming, cozy book about being thankful. From the local reporter to the doctor and pastor, children will delight as they explore the people of their town and what they are thankful for.

Thankful is a heartwarming picture book that teaches children ages 48 to:

• Focus on the blessings that we tend to take for granted
• Appreciate essential workers and what people in our everyday lives provide: Like the gardener thankful for every green sprout, and the fireman, for putting the fire out.

Meant to be read aloud, Thankful features:

• Endearing storytelling with bouncy, rhyming text, creating an engaging, fun read for readers young and old
• Whimsical illustrations with soft colors and bold lines, perfect for any season
• Timeless tale of thanksgiving that is perfect for holiday gift giving

Reviews

Spinelli lists many things for which people are thankful. The pictures tell a pleasing counterpoint to this deceptively simple rhyme. It begins 'The waitress is thankful for comfortable shoes. / The local reporter, for interesting news.' The pictures show a little girl playing waitress to her brother, who playacts the reporter. The news gets interesting when the girl trips over the (omnipresent) cat. As the poem continues, the Caucasian children and their parents embody all the different roles and occupations it mentions. The poet is thankful for rhyme and the artist, for light and color, although the girl dancer is not particularly pleased with her brother's painterly rendition of her visual art. The cozy hotel for the traveler is a tent for the siblings in the backyard, and the grateful chef is their father in the kitchen. Even the pastor (the only character mentioned who is not a family member) is grateful, as he is presented with a posy from the girl, for 'God's loving word.' The line is squiggly and energetic, with pastel color and figures that float over white space or have whole rooms or gardens to roam in. Both children, grateful for morning stories, appear in a double-page spread surrounded by books and stuffed toys as their mother reads to them---an image that begs to be a poster. Low-key and gentle; a book to be thankful for. (Picture book. 4-7) Kirkus

Author Bio

Eileen Spinelli is the author of many picture books and poetry collections, including A Big Boy Now, Hug a Bug, and the bestselling When Mama Comes Home Tonight, among others. When she writes a story, she has an instant audience: her twenty-five grandchildren and husband, Jerry (also a writer). Aside from story making, Eileen teaches creative writing and poetry. The Spinellis live in Media, Pennsylvania.