It is a beautiful story that takes place in Sorrento, Italy, during the Renaissance. The main character, Giovanni, has an extremely difficult life, and, yet, he still realizes that he has MUCH to be grateful for and is still willing to share his God-given talents to make others happy. Tomie dePaola is such a wonderful writer, and I was excited that I have his Thanksgiving book, My First Thanksgiving, so that I could share it with the girls, too. It is neat for children to see the similarities in an individual author's work and discuss the common threads throughout each of his/her published pieces. It is just one way to truly illustrate the writing trait of "Voice" to children.
To connect with My First Thanksgiving, I did some choral reading and partner reading with Brynn of the "ABC's of the First Thanksgiving" while Clare listened. Here is the link for the "ABC's of the First Thanksgiving" that could also be used as a Readers' Theater production:
http://www.thebestclass.org/ThanksgivingABC.pdf
Then, we continued learning about the Mayflower by reading You Wouldn't Want to Sail on the Mayflower: A Trip that Took Entirely Too Long by Peter Cook.
The girls learned that the Mayflower was not quite as extravagant as the Titanic or modern-day cruise ships. There were so many fascinating facts in this book, but I guarantee that, if asked about the book, the girls would most likely tell you about the "Poop Deck." It was absolutely HILARIOUS to them that a part of the ship is actually called the Poop Deck, and laughter ensued for several seconds each time we read that particular page and when we were constructing our own Mayflower ships. One cannot construct a Mayflower ship without a Poop Deck, right?!? I think that they were still laughing even when this picture was taken!
For read aloud, we read the story Sometimes It's Turkey, Sometimes It's Feathers by Lorna and Lecia Balian.
It is an excellent piece of literature to teach the skill of making predictions. Even I was surprised at the ending of the story!!
Then, we transitioned to the book Papa Piccolo by Carol Talley.
I wanted to integrate this piece of literature because it, too, takes place in Italy just like The Clown of God did. When Brynn was just one year old, we spent Thanksgiving in Venice, Italy, right where the story Papa Piccolo is set. I thought that it would be fun for her to see pictures of her unique Thanksgiving celebration four years ago and talk together about the places that she saw as a baby girl.
Papa Piccolo is a beautiful story about fatherhood, and I can say, without a doubt, that our children are BLESSED with an awesome and loving daddy. Here is Scott toting Brynn around Venice the day of Thanksgiving 2009.
Gondolas just like in the story Papa Piccolo!
Here is sweet, sweet Brynn chasing pigeons in Piazza San Marco. There weren't any turkeys on this particular Thanksgiving day, but there sure were pigeons galore!
More of Piazza San Marco.
In VENICE with Scott, Brynn, and Clare (in the womb).
An absolute dream come true!
After reminiscing, we spent more time learning about Thanksgiving by reading Thank You, Sarah: The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving by Laurie Halse Anderson.
The resounding message throughout the story, "The pen is mightier than the sword" (Edward Bulwer-Lytton), and the author's challenge at the end of the book..."Pick up your pen. Change the world" (Laurie Halse Anderson). Such an inspiration for budding little writers in our home!!
So, through literature, we traveled to Italy and traveled back in time, and it was all centered around the beautiful theme of thanks!
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