Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

The true-life tradition that inspired this book sounds magical--but that magic didn't translate to the pages of this book. As a reader, I didn't just want to be told about another family's Thanksgiving--I wanted to feel it. The only thing I felt was my head banging into the refrain "Thanksgiving in the woods" at the end of every page spread. Unsurprisingly, this book was not written by an author who specializes in children's literature (although apparently she's published one other picture book), but simply by a writer who used to attend the event and has fond memories of it. "Thanksgiving in the Woods" begins with a photograph and description of the tradition instead of immediately immersing readers into a fictive world, and what follows reads like an amateur poem of remembrance, with needlessly centered text and uninspiring diction. I found myself wishing the family had enlisted the likes of Patricia Toht ("Pick a Pine Tree") or Linda Crotta Brennan ("Flannel Kisses"), who also write about seasonal family traditions, instead of relying so heavily on one of their own. As for the illustrations, I disagree with other Amazon reviewers. I wish the illustrator had attended as much to the interior illustrations as to the cover, which was the aesthetic rope that drew me in. The interior illustrations lack character, texture, and the sort of intrigue or enchantment I'd hoped for from a story set in the woods. For me, the book falls flat . . . which is a shame, because I would've liked to be invited to a Thanksgiving in the woods, even if only in my imagination.