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Over the River and Through the Wood, illustrated by Nadine Bernard Westcott.

Lydia Maria Child's classic New England Thanksgiving poem, which first appeared in 1844, is given a modern treatment by illustrator Nadine Bernard Westcott in this fun seasonal picture-book. As the rhyming text rollicks along, following a family as they journey to their grandparents' house for a Thanksgiving feast, the artwork alternates between depicting that family on the road and depicting Grandmother and Grandfather preparing for them. The setting is modern, so the family travels in a car, driving from city to country, but the textual references to horses and sleighs are not neglected, as they pass such equipages on their journey. Eventually they arrive, and the poem/song concludes with a big hurrah for the pumpkin pie. The musical notation for the song is included at the rear...

Over the River and Through the Wood: A Song for Thanksgiving, published in 1992, is the fourth picture-book presentation of this beloved seasonal poem/song that I have read, following upon the versions illustrated by Matt Tavares, Christopher Manson and Brinton Turkle. I found it enjoyable and engaging, although not the equal, aesthetically speaking, of those other three versions. I appreciated the fact that Westcott has "updated" the Thanksgiving journey described in the poem—her family are modern city dwellers, and drive a modern car—while still retaining the traditional elements in the song, such as horse-drawn sleighs. I also appreciated that the artwork alternated between the grandparents preparing for visitors, and the family journeying toward them. The text was rather abbreviated—in its full form this poem has twelve stanzas, but the version here uses only three—although it still makes for an engaging read-aloud. This wouldn't be the first picture-book presentation of this poem that I would recommend to readers—that would be either the Tavares or the Turkle versions, both of which contain the full twelve verses, and both of which feature artwork I prefer—but it is still a fun picture-book for the season. ( )

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