Myra Cohn Livingston (1926–1996)

Prolific children's poetry anthologist Myra Cohn Livingston joins forces with Caldecott Honor-winning illustrator Stephen Gammell in this collection of seventeen Thanksgiving poems. Fourteen of the poems are original creations, from children's authors like J. Patrick Lewis (The Turkey's Wattle) and Jane Yolen (Pass the Plate), as well as hymn writers like George J. Elvey (Come, Ye Thankful People, Come); two are traditional Native American poems (one Osage, one Navajo); and one is Psalm 100, from the King James Bible...

Having read this editor/illustrator pair's subsequent 1989 Halloween Poems collection, I approached Thanksgiving Poems (published in 1985) with some interest. I am a great admirer of Gammell's artwork, whether that be the deliciously creepy illustrations in Alvin Schwartz's Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (and sequels), or the more restrained but breathtakingly beautiful work he did in Olaf Baker's Where the Buffalos Begin, which netted him a 1982 Caldecott Honor. That said, while I did enjoy the visuals here, much as I did with the Halloween book, I found the actual poems in this Thanksgiving collection a mixed bag. I didn't mind that many of them were religious in nature, as some other online reviewers have done, as I know the holiday has religious connotations for many people. But often the poems themselves just didn't speak to me. I enjoyed a few, including the marvelous Giving Thanks Giving Thanks by Eve Merriam, which was my favorite of the lot, but on the whole I don't know that I would strongly recommend this one. I think better collections, such as Lee Bennett Hopkins' Merrily Comes Our Harvest In: Poems for Thanksgiving, can be found for those seeking children's poetry for this holiday, and it is such titles that I would recommend instead.… (meer)