THE GREAT THANKSGIVING FOOD FIGHT

Pirates descend on the first Thanksgiving, and it’s not a pretty sight.

When Cap’n McNasty and the crew of the Knotty List find themselves with an empty galley, they follow their noses to Plymouth Rock. Invited to the table, they seat themselves and promptly start stuffing a giant sack with the bounty. When their hosts notice, the titular food fight erupts, with pies and pumpkins flying. The pirates beat a retreat with their loot only to discover when they get back to their ship that but one pea remains to be split among them. Young readers will wonder how that happened, as there is no evident hole in the sack; close examination of the pirates’ flight reveals that the mouth of the sack may not be held quite closed, though it’s not at all clear that this is the case in Jaskiel’s rather frantic painting. Impossible physics aside, this title is an eminently skippable one, as there’s hardly any stereotyping opportunity lost. The pirate captain himself has but one eye, one hand, and one leg; the Pilgrims are beneficent, and the Wampanoag guests (barely mentioned in the text) are hawk-nosed and bare-chested. There’s lots of disruption going on, but none of it is to the foundational myth of the first Thanksgiving. Add to this confusing compositions and limping verse, and there’s lots of reasons to leave this one on the shelf.

Skip this feast