On the Bookshelf

On the Bookshelf picture books

New books to be thankful for

‘How to Send a Hug’

By Hayley Rocco; illustrated by John Rocco

Artie loves giving hugs. But she can’t give a hug to her Grandma who lives so far away. Instead, she shows us how to send hugs using the magic of handwritten letters in this timeless story about connecting to loved ones when you can’t always do so in person. This is a story about reaching out across the miles when you can’t do so yourself in person and turning words into love. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

‘A Bear, a Bee, and a Honey Tree’

By Daniel Bernstrom; illustrated by Brandon James Scott

When a hungry, fuzzy brown bear and a hive of angry bees come face to face, everybody’s abuzz! This rowdy, rhythmic read-aloud is perfect for beginning readers. Enjoy alliterative wordplay and verbal pizzazz, along with expressive characters that jump off the pages. This story has a high-energy, uninhibited playfulness that makes kids want to run, chase, find out something about bear and bee behavior — and learn to read! Hippo Park ‘Butterfly Child’

By Marc Majewski

A young child loves the spots and patterns found on butterflies, and fashions bold orange wings to become a butterfly child. But when other kids shun the child for the clothes they don’t understand, it takes a father’s encouragement for the kid to stay true to what they love and find joy in the butterfly wings once more. Katherine Tegen Books

DON’T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF, DON’T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF, JUST NAIL THE BIG STUFF. JUST NAIL THE BIG STUFF. DON’T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF, JUST NAIL THE BIG STUFF.

What’s another teeny, tiny stain? You’ve got more important things to think about—like making sure your kids are What’s another teeny, tiny stain? You’ve got more important What’s another teeny, tiny stain? You’ve got more important buckled correctly in the right seat for their age and size. things to think about—like making sure your kids are things to think about—like making sure your kids are buckled correctly in the right seat for their age and size. buckled correctly in the right seat for their age and size. Check at NHTSA.gov/TheRightSeat Check at NHTSA.gov/TheRightSeat Check at NHTSA.gov/TheRightSeat

From the cover

n Turkey

continued from Page 1 2. The National Turkey Federation says around 45 million turkeys will be eaten on Thanksgiving, which equates to about 720 million pounds of turkey being consumed (with the average turkey size being 16 pounds). 3. The Butterball hotline answers roughly 100,000 calls every year on its turkey question hotline. 4. In 1953, the Swanson company overestimated the number of frozen turkeys it would sell for the holiday season by 26 tons. Rather than waste the meat, Swanson sliced it up, repackaged it and created the first frozen TV dinners.

5. Thanksgiving in America may be older than many recognize. While Thanksgiving is largely tied to the 17th century settlers, the National Parks Service says in 1565 Spanish settlers in St. Augustine (now Florida) celebrated by having a meal to which they invited the native Seloy tribe. The Spanish served pork stew, sea biscuits, red wine and garbanzo beans. Some say the Seloy contributed turkey, venison and maize. 6. Thanksgiving didn’t become a civic holiday until Abraham Lincoln made it one after the Civil War. Thanksgiving was declared a national holiday on October 20, 1864.

7. The Pilgrims did not refer to themselves as “pilgrims.” They used the word “separatists” as they were separating themselves from a larger belief system. 8. In addition to Canada and the United States, Grenada, Liberia, the Philippines, Saint Lucia, and the Netherlands celebrate their own versions of Thanksgiving. 9. Each year, the American president “pardons” a turkey from slaughter on Thanksgiving. This tradition dates back to when Abraham Lincoln’s son was upset that his family’s turkey that was going to be killed for Thanksgiving dinner.

10. According to the U.S. Calorie Control Council (CCC), an average American may consume 4,500 calories and 229 grams of fat on Thanksgiving Day.

11. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is an annual tradition. People line the parade route in New York City or tune in to watch the parade on television. It originated in 1924 and the famed balloons were added in 1927.

12. Apple pie is the pie of choice for Thanksgiving, even though pumpkin pie is prevalent this time of year.

Each year, the American president “pardons” a turkey from slaughter on Thanksgiving. This tradition dates back to when Abraham Lincoln’s son was upset that his family’s turkey was going to be killed for Thanksgiving dinner.

Editor’s note:

Grateful for our readers

We at Capital District Family Now are thankful for so many things, but we would be remiss if we didn’t count you, our readers, among them. Thank you for reading! We appreciate your calls and e-mails telling us what you like and don’t like about our coverage of issues facing Capital District families. We try to keep you in mind with every change or tweak we make to our publication, and we hope that shows.

We are especially grateful for your contributions to these pages, in the way of reader submissions and calendar ideas. And speaking of our calendar, it has long been the go-to resource for folks looking for activities to take part in as a family. We regularly feature events at area museums, libraries, performing venues and nature centers, and most of them can either be enjoyed for free or just a few dollars.

The deadline for event submissions is the 10th of the previous month. Send them to robertsk@spotlightnews.com. Everything runs space permitting, but if you take the time to send something in, we will try our hardest to make sure it sees print.

Check out our articles and more at www.cdfamilynow.com and mail your story ideas and pictures to Capital District Family Now, P.O. Box 100, Delmar, NY 12054, or e-mail me at robertsk@spotlightnews.com. Kristen Roberts Editor, Capital District Family Now

NowFamily Capital DistriCt generations together Capital District Family Now is a unit of Community Media Group LLC. Published monthly. Deadline for advertising and calendar events is the 5th of the month preceding publication. Display advertising rates are available on request. Capital District Family Now reserves the right to refuse advertising for any reason. We do not guarantee any of the information, services or products published in this or any issue. The opinions expressed by the contributors do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this paper. © Copyright Capital District Family Now. No portion of Capital District Family Now may be reproduced without written permission from Community Media Group LLC. publisher | John McIntyre editor | Kristen Roberts

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