The Thanksgiving Story

The Thanksgiving Story by Alice Dalgliesh, with illustrations by Helen Sewell. © Charles Scribner's Sons, 1954.

Nice illustrations by Helen Sewell in this children's book about the first Thanksgiving in America. Helen won a Caldecott Honor for the work done on this book. More about Helen Sewell HERE.

On the first page, there's an Author's Note:

In writing the text and making the pictures for this book, Helen Sewell and I have kept them both very simple—so they tell the story of one family and of the changing seasons.

The Pilgrims and settlers were chiefly a group of country people—farmers, weavers, and other workmen. They wore the clothes of the time—perhaps less elaborate—and they wore colors. The wide, tall hats were expensive, so the men and boys had knitted and cloth caps for ordinary occasions.








There's a certain flattening of the scene that Helen does that makes it look like cut paper in some of the illustrations.






I noticed that the boy in the lower lefthand corner is actually a cutout - the artist must've painted him separately and glued him in place there. I've seen this done before many times.

Here's wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving, people. Hope you're enjoying your time with your family and friends. I know we are.