Sharing the Bread: An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving Story
Published by Schwartz & Wade
Celebrate food and family with this heartwarming Thanksgiving picture book. We will share the risen bread. / Our made-with-love Thanksgiving spread. / Grateful to be warm and fed. / We will share the bread. In this spirited ode to the holiday, set at the turn of the twentieth century, a large family works together to make their special meal. Mama prepares the turkey, Daddy tends the fire, Sister kneads, and Brother bastes. Everyone—from Grandma and Grandpa to the littlest baby—has a special job to do. Told in spare, rhythmic verse and lively illustrations, Sharing the Bread is a perfect read-aloud to celebrate the Thanksgiving tradition.
Reviews
Everyone helps prepare Thanksgiving dinner in this new holiday offering set in the 19th century. From fetching the cooking pot to folding pilgrim hats, each of the 10 members in this family has a job to do. Narrated by the younger brother in rhyming four-line verse, each spread highlights one aspect of the meal preparations and the relative responsible for it: sister kneads the bread dough, grandpa cooks the berries, auntie mashes the potatoes, etc. The youngster's excitement with the day is conveyed through repetition and simple rhymes and rhythm that mirror the ease with which the family works together in anticipation of their meal. — School Library Journal
...McElmurry's gouache paintings exude familial affection: the boy's mother and father sneak loving glances of each other in the midst of the preparations, and the boy takes a moment to peer at his baby sibling, sleeping "snug and happy in our house." This is a warm and wonderful holiday treasure.
— Publisher's Weekly (starred review)
As Thanksgiving dinner approaches, everyone in this industrious nineteenth-century family—from Grandma and Grandpa down to Baby—takes part in preparing for the feast. "Mama, fetch the cooking pot... / Brother, baste the turkey well... / Uncle, swing the cider jug..." The little-boy narrator, meanwhile, checks in on all the preparations until the family is finally seated around the table to say grace and enjoy the fruits of their labor. McElmurry's gouache illustrations, in a textured palette of browns, oranges, and dark blues, are imbued with quiet energy. Miller's patterned rhyming text has the cadence of a folk song and captures just how joyful (and exhausting) Thanksgiving feasts can be.
—The Horn Book
© 2015 Jill McElmurry