Thankful

A child enumerates all the things to be thankful for throughout the year.

At the beginning of each year, a child starts making a “thankful chain” to last through December, writing on each paper link something to give thanks for. As the child moves through the daily routines, there are many things to be thankful for, both at home and out and about. Though the sentiment is worthy, the text feels more adult-driven than childlike. It is hard to imagine a young child expressing thanks for “love and dreams, night and morning. For a moon and sun that always come back” or saying, “I am thankful for a heart that beats, and every breath, in and out.” Nevertheless, the book could be used as a springboard to help children notice, appreciate, and enjoy the small gifts of life. The illustrations for the book are hand-built 3-D dioramalike sets, made from paper and cardboard, that are quite remarkable. Charming, engaging, and chock-full of little details, they will transfix readers. The family—mother, father, infant sibling, and the narrator—appears to be an interracial one. Mother and children have dark hair and olive skin; the father present White. They and other characters are represented as paper cutouts, drawn with lively lines and colored, then collaged into the scenes. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A visual delight, best used to motivate appreciation of the world around us. (Picture book. 4-8)