That clever little witch, whose creative projects and activities first saw print in 1972, in author/illustrator Linda Glovach's The Little Witch's Black Magic Cookbook, before featuring in a number of other books, returns in this sixth title, this time highlighting a number of different ideas for Thanksgiving fun. Beginning with a brief retelling of the traditional Thanksgiving story, the book then devotes quite a bit of space to instructions on how to put on a sock puppet play featuring that story. Instructions for making the puppets (Pilgrims, Indians and Turkey), the stage itself and various props, are then followed by the play itself, which stars Miles Standish, John Hopkins, two Pilgrim women, and Samoset and Chief Massasoit. A recipe for cornbread, instructions on pressing leaves, making an apple-head witchy doll, and drying corn for a count the corn game are also included. The Thanksgiving at Home section includes a pumpkin pie recipe, instructions for making cornhusk dolls, calabash gourds and Indian place cards for the dinner tables. The book closes with a peppermint tea recipe, and a brief index...

Published in 1976, The Little Witch's Thanksgiving Book is the fifth of Glovach's crafty books to feature the eponymous magic maker that I have read, although it is the sixth to be published. I am saving The Little Witch's Christmas Book (1974) to read closer to that holiday. In any case, I found this entry in the series charming, for the most part. This was the first of these books that I have read to feature a play that can be put on by children, and I did appreciate that. I also liked some of the other craft and activity ideas, particularly the apple-head and cornhusk dolls, as these highlight toys that were traditionally made, in the historic period of the First Thanksgiving, as well as long afterward, and with which young people today might be unfamiliar. I did note with disappointment the absence of an introductory section devoted to "The Little Witch's Code" here, something that in other titles set out expected behaviors for children participating in the activities described, and I continue to wish that the witchy content in these subsequent books was as high as in the first (as this is my reason for seeking them out), but otherwise this was a fairly engaging entry in the series. Recommended to young people looking for fun, creative ideas for Thanksgiving crafts and activities. ( )