In Tuyet’s elementary-school classroom the days leading up to Thanksgiving—Turkey Day, as Mrs. Cook calls it—are full of turkeys: in songs, crafts and stories. So when her mother tells her they’ll be having Ba Noi’s special Vietnamese duck dish for their Thanksgiving meal, Tuyet is distressed. It’s delicious, and she even has seconds, but what will the other kids think? Turns out her multicultural classmates ate noodles, lamb, roast beef, enchiladas and tofu as well as the customary gobbler. While this tale gets at the way differing culinary customs are applied by Americans of many backgrounds to the Thanksgiving dinner, it fails to acknowledge the mythology—good and bad—that surrounds the celebration, making it ultimately as flat as Mitter’s crisp, pastel-hued, perspective-free illustrations. Does only half the job. (Picture book. 5-8)

-Kirkus Review

Little Tuyet is worried that her family’s Vietnamese traditions will not allow her to celebrate anksgiving the way the other children in her class will celebrate

Tuyet is excited to celebrate Thanksgiving at home, but dismayed that her Vietnamese-American family's feast will involve duck, rather than the more traditional turkey. She tries to convince her mother and grandmother that this is Turkey Day, just like she learned at school, but is informed in return that her family prefers duck. Tuyet too enjoys duck, and has a good time with her cousins on Thanksgiving Day itself. But what will she tell her teacher and classmates, when they discuss their holiday celebrations...?

With its story of a young Asian-American girl struggling to reconcile her expectations regarding the American celebration of a particular holiday with her immigrant family's own traditions, Duck for Turkey Day reminded me a bit of the middle-grade novel, Peiling and the Chicken-Fried Christmas, about a Chinese-American girl and her longing for a "real" American Christmas. The story here is sweet, and the conclusion heartwarming, leading young reader/listeners to the idea that there is no one true way to celebrate Thanksgiving (or any other holiday), and that the day isn't really about the food you eat, but the feelings you have, and the people with whom you celebrate. The artwork from illustrator Kathryn Mitter is colorful and cute - well-matched to the story. Recommended to anyone looking for children's stories that feature diverse ways of celebrating Thanksgiving. ( )

Duck for Turkey Day is a great story about different cultures! It shows how a young girl feels left out because she does not eat turkey on Thanksgiving. However, at school, she learns that a lot of her classmates eat different things on Thanksgiving as well! This is a light-hearted story about multicultural classrooms and sharing cultures. It would be great to read to a diverse classroom. ( )

This book is a very good example of a children's picture book that includes diversity. Tuyet is a young Vietnamese student that wants turkey for Thanksgiving. Although her parents and grandparents explain that they will be having duck instead of turkey for Thanksgiving, she is very upset and is afraid she will be different than her friends at school. In the end, her classmates tell about the meals they had including enchiladas, chicken, noodles, etc. The illustrations in this book give a great visual of what is happening in the text on each page.