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|---|---|---|
Searching... McMinnville Public Library | Thanksgiving Picture Book Scheer | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Salem Main Library | JPH THANKS Scheer | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
Every year Granddad tries to track down an old tom turkey that's been roosting in his woods for as a long as he can remember. His grandson is also caught up in the challenge. All through spring, summer, and fall, the two try to corner the wily bird.One cold morning just before Thanksgiving, the gobbler answers the turkey caller right away. As the call gets closer, the excitement builds, but so does Granddad's uneasiness. His grandson begins to wonder what this elusive bird actually means to the old man.Ronald Himler's watercolors capture rural Virginia's beauty in this moving, intergenerational story.
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 6-In this picture book, a 13-year-old and his mother move to his grandfather's farm in rural Virginia. Reluctant at first, the boy adapts to country life, finding there is much to learn from his granddad. Determined to track and shoot an old tom turkey that had been a worthy adversary for years, the grandfather takes the boy hunting. The seasons pass and they are never able to spot the bird, just hear him. One fateful day at Thanksgiving time, they corner the old turkey with his long beard, only to discover the joy in letting him fly free. After all, he had been in the woods as long as the old man and deserved their respect. Soft, watercolor illustrations and a story gently and respectfully told in the first person evoke memories of a time past (when a hard-earned dollar and eighty cents bought a fat turkey). It is a tale well told, reminiscent of sitting and listening to the old folks swap stories at a family gathering.-Pamela K. Bomboy, Chesterfield County Public Schools, VA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
A 13-year-old boy and his grandfather spend months hunting down a wild turkey in the early-morning darkness in this nostalgic and affecting story. But when they finally come face-to-face with their prey, the grandfather cannot bring himself to shoot it. Scheer and Himler (previously paired for By the Light of the Captured Moon) simultaneously develop the boy's relationship with his grandfather and with the woods. The story smoothly incorporates facts about turkeys' roosting habits, while the sketchy but realistic watercolors evoke the enchantment of the predawn hours. Ages 4-8. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
The narrator reminisces about his grandfather's teaching him how to hunt wild turkeys. Tension mounts as months pass and a certain wily turkey eludes them. Close to Thanksgiving, the boy finally has a clear shot at the stately bird, but his grandfather intentionally startles it before the boy can get the shot off. Soft watercolors illustrate this believable, but sentimental story. From HORN BOOK Spring 2002, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Scheer (By the Light of the Captured Moon, p. 265, etc.) does a fine job conveying a sense of the ties that bind us to a place, in this case the back hills of Virginia. As remembered by the boy, he and his mother go to live with his granddad on his farm. Granddad is getting on and his daughter wants to keep an eye on him. It is hard for the boy to leave his school and his friends, but simply put, he knows that what he is doing is the right thing. It doesn't take long before he enters into the elemental rhythms of farm life and indeed comes to like it. Early one morning, Granddad invites the boy to go turkey hunting with him. It is a Faulknerian moment, charged with the import of conduct and place. Tom eludes the hunters that morning, and all the mornings right up to Thanksgiving. The mother announces that she has saved enough pennies to buy a turkey, but Granddad and the boy have one more go. This time the turkey does come into view, a great old bird, its beard long enough to touch the ground. The boy is ready to acquit himself when Granddad stands up and frightens the bird off. It doesn't take the boy long to put two and two together: that bird has been in the wooded hills as long as Granddad. The boy remembers that a store-bought bird never tasted so good, especially when he sees the serene look on his grandfather's face. Himler's (The Caged Birds of Phnom Penh, p. 261, etc.) watercolors catch the smoky quality of the hills in all their luminescence, and Scheer is equally adept at evoking the sacredness of life and land. A lovely memory. (Picture book. 4-8)
Booklist Review
Ages 4-8. In a quiet, direct voice, an old man remembers himself at 13 when he and his mother came to live with Grandad on a small farm in rural Virginia. The boy bonds with Grandad and learns about the farm and the animals and how to hunt, especially for wild turkey, the smartest, trickiest thing in the woods. Through the spring and summer they go out before dawn, "alone in the silence of the morning." The family can barely afford to buy a bird when Thanksgiving comes, so Grandad tricks a huge old turkey into coming close enough to shoot. It's no real surprise when he lets it escape, but there's no overt message. The real story is in Scheer's casual lyrical words and Himler's beautifully detailed watercolor landscapes that show the wonder of nature. As in the works of Frost and Wordsworth, the excitement is in ordinary things and in the astonishing connections that come clear in a solitary place. --Hazel Rochman