This Thanksgiving be Thankful for Sarah!

This year, I'm re-recommending a children's book with a historical heroine who finally found success in securing our nation's unique Day of Giving Thanks. Told in a humorous style with silly caricatures, this book will interest children ages 5-10. (and parents will like it too!)

Thank You, Sarah: The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving by Laurie Halse Anderson, illustrations by Matt Faulkner.

Do you know about the (Superhero!) woman attributed to saving Thanksgiving?  Sarah Josepha Hale married David Hale in 1813, and they had five children. Left in financial straits by her husband’s death in 1822, she embarked on a literary career, becoming a poet and editor.  (She penned a very well know nursery rhyme: "Mary Had a Little Lamb"!) 

Love this version, illustrated by Tomie dePaola!

Sarah Josepha Hale loved Thanksgiving.  But the tradition began to fall on hard times, not being kept in the Southern, Midwestern, and Western United States.  

For 36 years she published numerous editorials and sent scores of letters to governors, senators, presidents and other politicians to garner support in making Thanksgiving a national holiday. Her request was rejected by four presidents, until finally President Abraham Lincoln said "yes" during the height of the Civil War.

President Abraham Lincoln and magazine editor Sarah Josepha Hale.
PHOTO: LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

If you can't find Thank You, Sarah at your library, click here to let your kids watch a digital reading of the book on Youtube.

If you'd like to learn more about Sarah Josepha Hale, go here to read the Pilgrim Hall Museum's article, "Godmother of Thanksgiving".

Thanks, Sarah!