THANK YOU, SARAH

The impish Faulkner (The Monster Who Ate My Peas, 2001, etc.) illustrates this rousing account of Sarah Hale’s campaign to make Thanksgiving a national holiday with crowds of caricatured celebrants in buckskins, football equipment, and every style of dress in between. (“Thanksgiving Canceled—No Football Today.”) Anderson (Catalyst, p. 1300, etc.), in a really silly mood, tells the tale with wide open theatricality: trumpeting, “WE ALMOST LOST . . . THANKSGIVING!” across a spread of dismayed diners and relieved looking turkeys, she introduces “a dainty little lady” as the holiday’s champion. An unlikely hero? “Never underestimate dainty little ladies,” the author warns, launching into a portrait of a 19th-century supermom—novelist, educator, magazine editor, widowed mother of five, eloquent supporter of many social causes and, yes, author of “Mary Had a Little Lamb”—who took on four Presidents in succession before finding one, Lincoln, who agreed with her that Thanksgiving, which had been largely a northeastern holiday, should be celebrated nationwide. “When folks started to ignore Thanksgiving, well, that just curdled her gravy.” Dishing up a closing “Feast of Facts” about the day and the woman, Anderson offers readers both an indomitable role model and a memorable, often hilarious glimpse into the historical development of this country’s common culture. Thank you, Anderson and Faulkner. (bibliography of sources) (Picture book/biography. 6-9)