Imperfect Genius

Well, it’s that time of year again.

I bet you think I’m talking about the day when all eat too much, squabble with our relatives, and fall asleep on the couch sometime between dinner and dessert. Actually, no. I’m talking about the time of year when stores fill their displays with children’s books about Thanksgiving, the kind with sugary sweetness and inaccuracies of mythical proportions.

I must have looked at 20 books, skimming one after another in hopes of finding a somewhat legitimate recounting of the history of this day to share with the kids. I experienced total Mission Failure. Every book misrepresented the historical record, either in the text or through the accompanying illustrations. Am I really expected to buy these “educational” books for my kids? I mean come on people!

Ugh! Most of the books, rather than offering informative material, simply perpetuated the typical stereotypes of Thanksgiving - pictures of stern looking people dressed starkly in black and white, complete with shoe buckle belts and pointy hats, dishing out pumpkin pie and roasted potatoes to equally absurd looking Indians. Not exactly what I want to spend my money on. Nor can I, in good conscience, buy books which depict beaming children gathered around a giant table in the woods eating cranberry sauce with spoons.

In the end I bought a simple Mercer Mayer book about gratitude. Surprisingly, it captured the meaning of Thanksgiving better than any of the books written purposefully for this holiday. So, in honor of this mythical day represented by oddly clothed people and happy cartoon turkeys, I present a bit of educational holiday reading. Enjoy!

• Debunking Myths and Misconceptions on Paradise Found

• Top 10 Myths About Thanksgiving by History News Network

• The Pilgrims Watched Football by Martha Brockenbrough on MSN

• Thanksgiving: Memory, Myth & Meaning on Plimoth Plantation