~*A Book Display for Thanksgiving*~

Well, I finally got around to cleaning out the front window and packing away the Halloween decorations. OK, that's only partly true. I did clean out the window (dusting it thoroughly and wiping away the dead ladybugs) and I did remove the pumpkin lights and glow-in-the-dark skeleton - but I'll leave the packing up part to Bill. He can be a bit particular about how things get stored and where ... ;)

Once the window was all clean and shiny, I set up a new book display for the month of November. Now, our front window sits at the head of our homelearning worktable, so I feel completely justified in filling it with children's books and other happy, child-friendly things. Though I've long admired the fancy silk flower arrangements I spy in my neighbors' front windows - (OK, maybe I coveted them a bit) - books and branches and other homey kinds of things will do for us for now.

The cornucopia, of course, is a timeless symbol of Thanksgiving, and ours is overflowing with the an abundance of pumpkins we harvested from our garden this year. It is surrounded by a few of our favorite holiday books:

• Happy Thanksgiving!
• The Pilgrim's First Thanksgiving
• The Story of the Pilgrims
• Arthur's Thanksgiving
• Turkeys, Pilgrims and Indian Corn: The Story of the Thanksgiving Symbols
• A Holiday Book: Thanksgiving
• The First Thanksgiving
• Thanksgiving is ...
• Thanksgiving Day at Our House: Poems for the Very Young

(Not on display, because it's part of the Nature Shelf this month, is my favorite Thanksgiving book of all, A Turkey for Thanksgiving by Eve Bunting.)

You know, people often ask me if we own all the books I show at my blog, and the answer is - yes, mostly - though I think we do make excellent use of the library. (Case in point, there are two library books in the picture above.) Sure I've bought a lot of books over time, but I've been a mother for 13 years and a home educator for nine. Books are kind of my stock and trade.

And I've always loved collecting children's books, even before I had kids of my own. I often dreamed of writing children's book reviews like you find in Chinaberry, or maybe owning a little bookshop one day. I even thought about becoming a children's librarian at one point. And so this is where the large book collection - and the urge to set up fun little displays - comes from. ;)

I must point out, hanging above our display, barely noticeable unless the light hits it right, is this adorable jingle-bell-turkey-angel-ornament (for lack of a better description):

He makes me think of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. :)

By the way, thank you for all the lovely comments after my Learning Room post! I know there were several questions tucked in there and I will do my best to get to them just as soon as I can. But right now there are three boys awaiting their breakfast (ooh, look at the time, make that lunch), so I'd better be going ...

Have a great Wednesday, everyone!