I don’t think I’ve ever wished to give books letter grades before, but it would be fun to write Be Thankful, Be Giving: B+. I’m not saying that’s accurate, I’m saying that’d be fun to write.

Be Thankful, Be Giving is a D-shaped Thanksgiving-themed board book. For a board book, they took a slightly unusual tack; board books are most frequently one-picture-per-page or even one-picture-per-two-page-spread, but in this case, there are three or four pictures per spread, each accompanying one or two lines of a little Thanksgiving poem. The poem is by Ximena Hastings, the pictures by Scott Jeralds, and there is some miss-match between the text and the image; the text says “you can back pies” where an image clearly shows Violet and Frieda making a pot of mashed potatoes… and no, it’s not sweet potatoes aimed for a sweet potato pie, it’s potato potatoes. (Note: I have now used two semicolons and an ellipsis in a single paragraph. If I turn up dead, it is likely the work of modern copy editing ninjas.)

It does end with its one full-spread image, of the whole gang sitting down for a Thanksgiving meal together. For those who are wondering about how it aligns with the concerns about the end of A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving: the racial concerns are gone, as Franklin is not isolated to his own side of the table, but rather seated between Lucy and Frieda. However, the cannibalism concerns remain, as Woodstock seems awfully enthusiastic to be bringing out the freshly-cooked turkey with Chef Snoopy.

Be Thankful, Be Giving is available for immediate shipment.

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