'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving

I was doing some Christmas shopping yesterday that took me to Barnes & Noble. I wasn't specifically shopping for any children's books, but I did poke my head into that department, since I don't have much in the line of Thanksgiving picture books. I saw a picture book titled 'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving by Dav Pilkey. It is, as one would expect, a Thanksgiving take on the classic Christmas poem.

This time, students are on a field trip to Farmer Mack Nugget's turkey farm. The children are excited to see the eight turkeys, but are distressed when they see Farmer Nugget's ax and learn that the turkeys are destined for the Thanksgiving table. The children ask Farmer Nugget for some water, and while he is gone, they each hide a turkey under their clothes. Farmer Nugget returns with the water to the much fatter children. The kids drink their water and board the school bus. Only then does Farmer Nugget discover his turkeys are missing. The children take turkeys home with them, and they all eat vegetarian Thanksgiving dinners with the stolen turkeys as guests.

Needless for me to say to anyone who knows me, but I don't do vegetarian. This book will never find its way into any classroom of mine - if parents want to teach their children to be vegetarians , that's their business. It's not my place (or my way of thinking) to scare children about where meat comes from before it finds it's way to our tables. Children need to understand that, but this isn't the way to go about it.