Posted on 11/23/2005 11:37:35 AM PST by neverdem
Cast your mind back to the Thanksgivings of your childhood--or if not yours, then Norman Rockwell's. See the flushed, familiar faces, the expanse of white damask, the jewel-like bowls of candied yams and cranberry sauce, and Granddad carving the large, gleaming, nut-brown . . . artichoke?
Wait--sorry. I've been looking at too many children's picture books. For though it's true that publishers still turn out Pilgrim- and Indian-themed stories about America's most beloved holiday--with pumpkins, cornucopias and roasted turkey--the aim of a surprising number of children's books about Thanksgiving seems to be to put little readers off their meat. In these stories, succulent turkey is out; crunchy veggies are in. And a plump gobbler isn't served on the table but at it.
"Thanksgiving dinner always means turkey! Or does it? One little pilgrim is not so sure . . " So goes the sell on the cover of Peggy Archer's "Turkey Surprise" (Dial, $10). In it, forest creatures help a turkey hide from two pilgrim boys, the younger of whom eventually succeeds in persuading his brother not to bag a fowl for Thanksgiving. In "Over the River: A Turkey's Tale" (Simon & Schuster, $14.95), illustrated by Derek Anderson, turkeys on their way to Grandma's house similarly manage to outwit and escape their pursuers before sitting down to a jolly meat-free Thanksgiving meal.
In "Thelonious Turkey Lives! (On Felicia Ferguson's Farm)" (Knopf, $15.95), by Lynn Rowe Reed, Thanksgiving's approach causes the eponymous avian hero to become "nervous about dinner--being dinner, that is." He assumes that Felicia is "trying to fatten him up for the chopping block." So he foments a barnyard insurgency to destabilize the apparently ferocious farmer, only to discover in the end that she merely wants his feathers to use as decorations on fashionable hats.
How cute! How O...
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
What normal dad could stomach reading such a book to a kid?
yeesh.
I guess it lowers the price of meat for the rest of us. It's just so disgusting to have to see it though.
Yes, because Pilgrims only hunted birds because they were big fat meanies. It had nothing to do with not starving or anything.
PETA
PEOPLE
EATING
TASTY
ANIMALS
-c cm
Time for some Ted Nugent!
I prefer to read a cute Thanksgiving story called "Cranberry Thanksgiving" by Wende and Harry Devlin. It is a cute story, with a traditional turkey dinner with all the fixings including the Grandmother's famous Cranberry Bread. The recipe is included in the book for the cranberry bread, so parents and their children can make their own loaf of Cranberry Bread for their own Thanksgiving celebration.
I have read this story with my children every year just before Thanksgiving since they were not much more than babies, and every year we make the Cranberry bread together. It has become a family tradition that we all enjoy. I hope some of you will like it too
here in MN the "turkey wars" have lowered prices to about .39/cents a pound.
I suppose we'll need a Congressional hearing about it soon.
Glad I live in Oregon. I only paid 18 cents a pound for my turkey! I've got a pounder to cook for tomorrow! Yum Yum!
We're having leg of lamb this year instead of turkey. There's no reason to think that the leg didn't come from an animal that's into extreme body modification. Will that make the Petans happy?
>>>>What sort of weakminded idiots buy these kinds of books for their kids?
I've probably got a few relatives on the list. We've gotten some strange books for the kids in the past.
>>>>What normal dad could stomach reading such a book to a kid?
We actually pre-read all children's books now. We got some that went beyond the silly stuff here, and were down right offensive (e.g., promoting pagan religions when the family is more than aware we are Christian). If it doesn't pass muster it disappears before present opening is even finished. I suspect my family has noticed this pre screening, as they were meant to. The books are getting less offensive every year, fortunately. One year one of the kids wanted one of the books read to her, and was dissappointed it couldn't be found. ;-)
patent
My last post should have read "20 pounder" for tomorrow! Guess I somehow deleted the size when I previewed my post. Mea Culpa!


Hey Bibchr...we're getting ready for a low carb Thanksgiving. At least for my husband (I cheat). I have been slowly buying special treats to make the day special for him. I've got steamed spinach, baked cod, boiled shrimp and a huge salad planned with cheese, mushrooms and chipped up bacon and olives, not including the turkey and a low carb pumpkin cheese cake for dessert!
He has no idea...I have almost everything hid in the fridge and freezer out in the garage!
:-)
I hate PETA so much that I now slowly torture my turkey to death.
LOL!
Oh, yeah! Enjoy nature's bounty of tasty beast, fish and fowl!

LOL!!! Made me reverse some coffee!
Careful... lab experiments involving galvanic response indicate that vegetables feel pain when picked...
Piker. I got one up on you - I degrade mine.
That's very funny! I plan on using your line tomorrow when I have Thanksgving dinner with 2 vegetarians attending.
Well, by torture, I mean I put panties on its head and make naked-turkey pyramids.
And put it on a dog collar while a cigarette-smoking female military policeman looks on.
I'm going to be kind to my turkey and make sure it's nice and stuffed for Thanksgiving.
Besides, we all know that those PETA chumps eat fowl. Last I saw, they were eating crow after a bunch of their members were caught killing defenseless pets.
Before cooking it looks like this:

After cooking it looks like this:

And it tastes worse than it looks!!!
And put it on a dog collar while a cigarette-smoking female military policeman looks on.
Argh! Ok, ya got me beat. I just talk dirty to my turkey.
There's stuffing and then THERE'S STUFFING!
What normal dad could stomach reading such a book to a kid?
****************
Two excellent questions. Most of the people I have known to be vegetarians have been young women.
You ever here the Imus in the Morning 'fake commercial' by Wilfred Brimley? That's right along that avenue.
So to speak.
This time last year I was at Trader Joe's standing in the check out line. The girl behind me was buying a soy turkey....and it was in the shape of a turkey. Even SHE was laughing that it was ridiculous despite being a vegetarian.

Happy Thanksgiving Everybody!
She grills a mean veal cutlet for someone who hasn't eaten one in 10+ years.
I know one adult man who is an "ethical" vegetarian, but even he's allowing his kids to eat meat and make the choice for themselves when they get older.
*************
Now that's unusual. The vegetarians I've met are not so tolerant. I don't think they have much talent as chefs, either.
Ohhhh, that sounds good. I'll be there.
(That is what you meant, right?)
Dan
Last year there was a photo in the newspaper that showed a free vegan Thanksgiving. There were five takers.

...handful of dandelions, and it's a wrap!
People like the ones in my town. Volvo. Greenpeace. Smug Arrogance. Maxed out Credit cards and a No Interest Mortgage, with a paper-shuffling Widow-Fleecing job, and a wife they will discard on her fortieth birthday, read the script and bought it, and hates his life enough to vote Democrat.
(With apologies to the Monty Python Travel Agent skit.)
The five who showed up look like they needed food bad, so that is good. They looked happy to be warm but they also looked like they were having a hard time swallowing.
Still, if I was one of them, knowing how it tasted, I'd have passed on it and gone through some restaurant dumpsters instead.

Yes, I doubt you could get the poor pup to eat it.
It's the worst stuff I have ever tasted and I've had some weird stuff.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.