Thanksgiving is over, and many have already moved on with Christmas and Hannukah plans. Since this household is still rolling in the turkey and cranberries, I thought I’d review one last Thanksgiving book. Alligator Arrived with Apples: A Potluck Alphabet Feast surprised me. The title doesn’t sound like it has anything to do with the holiday, does it? I thought that perhaps the librarian made a mistake placing it on the Thanksgiving cart, thus, I’m glad it caught my eye, as it’s been treasured these few weeks preceding Turkey Day.

Pig and Pig II throw a potluck banquet. They invite a few friends for Thanksgiving dinner, but this isn’t an ordinary meal. It’s a feasting fest! The tables are set, the place cards are prepared, and the guests begin to arrive.

A Alligator Arrived with Apples And Allspice.
B Bear Brought Banana Bread, Biscuits, and Butter.

The guest list incorporates the whole alphabet, and includes such animal friends as Swan, Wombat, and Yak. They arrive in festive fashion: some scoot on scoters, some skate on boards while others float in parachutes. The friends bestow the hosts with a cornucopia of food such as Sage Stuffing, Mocha Mousse, and Gingerbread. The large party jubilantly gobbles their way through the alphabet, and afterwards, they are so stuffed they need catnaps.

Our sleep is deep
And many snore
When we wake up
we’ll eat some more!

The story ends with Pig and Pig II being thankful for friends, and food, but mostly relieved that Thanksgiving comes only once a year.

Alligator Arrived with Apples: A Potluck Alphabet Feast is an endearing story. It is so cute; it begs to be read repeatedly. The illustrations are adorable, and they remind me of a cross between Sandra Boynton’s crazy characters, and Richards Scarry’s Busytown animals. Technically speaking, the illustrations are very basic with simple washes of color. There’s hardly any detail work, and there’s very little shading. The backgrounds are all solid colors, yet the gouache artwork is very bright, and colorful. The personalities of the animals are so droll the pictures are irresistible.

I wasn’t sure how my son would react to this book. He’s in Kindergarten, thus, he’s outgrown alphabet books, but as I said in the beginning of this writing, this book surprised me. William adored this Thanksgiving tale. Many of the food items are new to his young eyes, and he was curious about each one. For instance, he wanted to know what quinces, kohlrabi, and trifles were. Crescent Dragonwagon, the author, over embellishes with a few of the letter choices, such as with the letter E. Elephant Eclipsed Everyone with his Elderberry Elixir. Fortunately, that one went so far above my five-year old, he didn’t even ask.

The copyright page is a two-page spread that features all the menu items. The food is in alphabetic order, and labeled accordingly. I think we discussed this page four separate times. We also poured over the picture where the tables are set, and the place cards are aligned in front of the each place setting. My son wanted to address each animal, and was distraught when he discovered there wasn’t an animal for the letter “R”. He kept telling me that the Pigs should have invited a rabbit. What could I do but agree with him?

Parents will like reading this short, 40-page tale because it’s clever, and amusing. The vegetarians will be pleased as well, because all the food choices are vegan. This book is also educational. The author went to great trouble in using verbs that go with the appropriate letter. In addition, all the words that go with the letter are capitalized for emphasis. The book doesn’t offer an age recommendation, but I think 3 to 6 years is probably appropriate. Alligator Arrived with Apples: A Potluck Alphabet Feast is going on my Thanksgiving book list for next year, as it’s an unexpected holiday delight.

ISBN: 0-02-733090-7
Macmillan Publishing Company, 1987

This is another entry into msmovay's Resurrecting the Oldies Write-Off

At 661 words, this review is also Lean 'n Mean.



Additional Thanksgiving Delights:
10 Fat Turkeys
A Plump and Perky Turkey
One Little, Two Little, Three Little Pilgrims
The First Thanksgiving Day: A Counting Story




Recommended: Yes