Giving Thanks, is a book about giving thanks for what you have. This book could be used in a classroom during Thanksgiving time. To show thinks that you can be thankful for.

A good book to read around thanksgiving time to remember the people group and traditions that created it. "Giving Thanks" encourages gratefulness and appreciation for the small things in life and is a great book to have in your classroom in order to encourage things to do the same. ( )

This book is about a Native American tribe who gives thanks to all the elements of the earth each and every day. They even thank the thunder and lightning, which I thought was quite interesting. I would recommend this book to students in the kinder-3rd grade range. This age group would be most appropriate because the students would be young enough to fully enjoy the illustrations but then the older students of the age group would be able to appreciate and understand the actual content. ( )

I wanted to love this more than I did but I did really like it and appreciate it.

It’s meaningful that this book was created by Native Americans, words by Chief Jake Swamp (Tekaronianeken/Mohawk?) and illustrated by Erwin Printup, Jr. (Cayuga/Tuscarora) educated in fine arts from the Institute of American Indian Art in Santa Fe, NM. Both men live in New York state.

U.S. Thanksgiving is probably my least favorite holiday (family centered with no close family; 46 million turkeys killed every year for just this holiday) but I can 100% get behind this kind of thanksgiving: a daily address to thank Mother Earth for all that she provides. Given climate change it was also poignant for me, but overall I found it lovely. I like how children are taught to express these thanks and how it’s said at ceremonial and government gatherings to this day. The words are from the Iroquois or Six Nations People.

A big plus is that the address is printed in the Mohawk language at the end of the book. I’d like to hear the audio of it because I don’t know how it sounds.

The illustrations grew on me. From the start I loved their vibrancy and bright colors but I wasn’t sure about their style. As I turned the pages I enjoyed them more and more and by the end of this short picture book I really liked them.

Thanked are: everything, deep blue waters, green grasses, good foods, fruits and berries, good medicine herbs, all the animals in the world, all the trees, all the birds, the gentle Four Winds, Grandfather Thunder Beings, Elder Brother Sun, Grandmother Moon, twinkling stars, Spirit Protectors of past and present, and the Great Spirit.

3-1/2 stars ( )

Based in nature, this story was written in the Mohawk Nation to celebrate Earth and all of her beauty. Elegant words praise the Earth as you are taken on a journey to thank the Earth for all of it's glory. From the water and grass to lightening and rain the Natives of the Mohawk Nation thank and praise the Earth for all of the wonders it brings and provides the people. This books helps you see that there is something to be thankful for in everything on Earth, even the flowing water of a stream because with the water arises life. ( )