Little Ying is excited for the Thanksgiving feast at her class at school, and she can’t wait to see what kind of special bread her mother will make for her to share. But the sight of the strange looking Chinese bread her mother gives her makes her worried. What if nobody likes it? What if they laugh at her for being so different? This Thanksgiving, Ling learns to be grateful for her own unique heritage. After all, “different can be good.”
For my online story post today, I am doing a short story from The Friend magazine. “Thanksgiving Bread” is from the November 2012 issue. I picked this story because I really like the idea of each of us celebrating our own special cultural heritage at Thanksgiving. The story of the Pilgrims’ struggle to survive is mirrored in the life of each family who ever left their native country and strove to make a new life in a strange land. It is is good to remember their sacrifices and their triumphs, and to be grateful for the differences that make our society so diverse and wonderful.
The Friend magazine is published monthly by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (also known as the Mormon church). It is available in print for a small fee, but the contents are available online for free all the way back to the 1971 issues. There are stories and poems, coloring pages and songs, recipes and family activity ideas. Some things are pretty specifically Mormon in doctrine and message. Others, like “Thanksgiving Bread,” are more in the generically inspirational category. There are some great finds, and you can search by keyword to find articles on specific topics. In my opinion, The Friend is an especially great holiday resource. The only downside is that the stories’ illustrations are only available for the current year’s issues. The cartoons and some of the activities still have their illustrations in the back issues, but not the stories. I would still totally recommend it, especially for early independent readers, and it’s free.
Read “Thanksgiving Bread” for free online.
