These 20 Thanksgiving books have been handpicked for young learners to teach about traditions, turkeys and grow their imaginations! Thanksgiving is such a great holiday to teach about other’s traditions because they all are centered around thankfulness and gratitude.
This list of Thanksgiving books has fiction and nonfiction titles. As well as some really silly books to bring laughter into the room and some great educational titles to enhance learning. Enjoy!
(THIS POST CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS.)
- Gobble Gobble Mr. Wobble is about a turkey that loves Thanksgiving! Mr. Wobble doesn’t understand that Farmer Joe is going to eat him instead of have him as a dinner guest! Your students will love laugh and giggle as this story unfolds.
- How to Catch a Turkey is a great read before introducing a STEM challenge to create a turkey trap! A turkey is loose in the school and the students have to catch him before the play!
- Turkey Trouble is a great read that will have your students laughing and wanting to hear more! Turkey is trying to disguide himself so he isn’t the main dish on Thanksgiving! He comes up with the perfect disguise!
- There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Turkey The old lady is at it again and this time she is after a turkey! Kids love these books and they lend themselves well to classroom read alouds. Their repetative nature allows students to join in on the reading!
- 10 Fat Turkeys is a funny book that features rhyming and counting backwards. These turkeys are silly and your students will get a kick out of their antics!
5 Thankgiving Books About Thankfulness
- Taylor the Thankful Turkey is a wonderful book to teach young children about thankfulness. Not only should we be thankful for all the things we have but we should show others our appreciation for them.
- Thanksgiving is for Giving Thanks! is a simple read for young students that introduces giving thanks and the Thanksgiving holiday.
- My Attitude of Gratitude is about a Grandma teaching her grandson to be thankful for all the many things he has. This story is perfect for little learners and Thanksgiving time.
- God Gave Us Thankful Hearts is a wonderful story about having a thankful heart. The animals are getting ready for hibernation and Mama Wolf is answering some of Lil Pup’s tough questions.
- Being Thankful is a story you will want to add to your library. Little Critter is having a hard time accepting his new friend and all his awesome toys. Little Critter must learn to be thankful for what he has.
5 More Thanksgiving Books
- Never EVER Tickle a Turkey is a must read this November! Your students will love the rhyming text and what happens when you tickle a turkey!
- The Night Before Thanksgiving is told in similar fashion to The Night Before Christmas and students will love to see what they families are doing.
- The First Thanksgiving shares a story about when the Pilgrims and Native Americans feasted together. The illustrations are great in this story and will captivate your young readers.
- Celebrate Thanksgiving is a National Geographics book for kids that shares about Thanksgiving traditions around the world. Real-life photographs and simple vocabulary lend itself to teaching about this concept.
- Thanksgiving in the Woods is a story about one family’s tradition of celebrating Thanksgiving among the trees. THey invite their friends and family to join them at this outdoor celebration.
5 Thanksgiving Books about Pilgrims and Native Americans
- The Pilgrims’ First Thanksgiving is a simple book that teaches students about the first Thanksgiving and the struggles that they encountered.
- …If You Sailed on the Mayflower is a great book that teaches kids about what it would have been like on the Mayflower. The times were very different and travelling would have been very rough!
- The Story of the Pilgrims is a great book to teach students about the Pilgrims. The why and how they made it to America.
- The Very First Americans is a nonfiction text that talks about the Native American culture. It is very interesting and written with little learners in mind.
- Fry Bread is a tale about Native American modern traditions surrounding Thanksgiving.
Here is my November bookshelf – and there are some great recommendations in the comments of this post too!
Do you have any great books to read for Thanksgiving? Please drop a comment below with the titles for me!