An Old- Fashioned Thanksgiving by Mary Louise Alcott is an 1868 publication.

The excitement of Thanksgiving is in the air as preparations begin for the big holiday feast. Unfortunately, a family emergency leaves the children in charge of the festivities. They are determined- but can they pull it off by themselves?

What a sweet and cozy short story! This little gem has never shown up in my search for a Thanksgiving story, somehow. Heartfelt thanks go out to a dear GR friend for sending me the link to this lovely story.

Times have certainly changed since this story was first penned, but coming together in times of stress, working together, enjoying our friends and family, and being thankful, are themes that are timeless, and endlessly inspirational! ( )

An old-fashioned Thanksgiving by Louisa May Alcott
Start starts out with the six siblings and how they are able to save the day for Thanksgiving.
The parents had to leave to help a neighbor and they all pitch in-interesting that they have been paying attention all the years prior
and are able to pull it off. The others doubt they can do it, the two oldest ones.
Younger children go sledding and they hope to have it all done by the time their parents arrive home.
They put the spices in and although they smell a bit different it should be good.
Includes a recipe at the end.
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device). ( )

An old-fashioned Thanksgiving by Alcott, Louisa May
When the mother is called away from home to tend to an ailing relative the girls decide they can
make Thanksgiving that year. Lots of traditional old fashioned New England things are described
as children make the decorations and food. They are surprised in many ways. Recipes at the end.
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device). ( )

This is a good book for teaching students the meaning of Thanksgiving(instead of it being all about the food). It is relatively short and a 2nd grader should be able to get through most of it. Some of the old fashioned words may have to be explained.

An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving, illustrated by Holly Johnson.

Originally part of Louisa May Alcott's six-volume Aunt Jo's Scrap Bag series - a collection of short stories published from 1872 through 1882, and ostensibly narrated by Jo, of Little Women fame - An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving is a "homey" tale, written in a colloquial style, which follows the story of the Bassetts, a New Hampshire farm family. When Mr. and Mrs. Bassett are called away, the day before Thanksgiving, to the deathbed of Mrs. Bassett's mother, the Bassett children, at the behest of eldest daughter Tilly, set out to make their own holiday meal. The result is not quite what was planned, but a surprise arrival (or two) provides lots of fun, and a happy ending.

Unfortunately, although I am generally a great admirer of Louisa May Alcott, and have read and enjoyed Little Women (and its two sequels) many times since I was an adolescent, I found that this holiday story left me largely unmoved. I didn't care for the self-consciously "country" dialect that Alcott used, through her characters, and I couldn't work up much interest in the story itself. The black and white pencil (or so I believe) illustrations, by Holly Johnson, were apparently inspired by the study of New Hampshire farm houses, but although they may have been authentic, I found them uninspiring. All in all, this was a disappointment - all the more so since I was really looking forward to it, saving it for a "cozy" Thanksgiving evening read. ( )