The Best Thanksgiving Read Alouds for Your Classroom

Looking to engage students and add some new titles to your Thanksgiving read alouds line up? These 11 turkey books are my favorite way to add some joy to my elementary classroom in November. Pair these funny books with your favorite reading or writing lesson plans!

How to Catch a Turkey

If you have been here a while, you will know that the How to Catch a Turkey SERIES by Adam Wallace is a fan favorite.

This silly story tells the adventures of trying to catch a Thanksgiving turkey that is on the loose.

Read this book aloud by itself or pair it with a fun How to Catch a Turkey craft. The choice is yours! Either way, you won’t regret it.

The Great Turkey Race

This silly turkey tale tells the story of 3 turkeys who overhear Farmer Joe say that he needs to find a VERY SPECIAL Thanksgiving turkey.

The turkeys decide to have a competition to see who is the most deserving… little do they know what Farmer Joe is going to do to the Thanksgiving turkey!

In the end, the turkeys plot their escape and Farmer Joe finds a new Thanksgiving treat.

I love to read this story aloud the week of Thanksgiving and pair it with The Great Turkey Escape writing and craft.

The Amazing Turkey Rescue

As a sequel to The Great Turkey Race, one year later the silly turkeys are enjoying life on the loose.

They get summoned to return to the farm to save the chickens from a fox.

This silly tale is sure to make your students laugh endlessly. They will be begging for more!

Grab this title and read it for fun, or have students write a summary.

The Silly Turkey Party

The final book in The Great Turkey Race trilogy is The Silly Turkey Party.

After saving the farm from the fox, the turkeys are living like royalty.

This silly tale tells the story of turkeys who are supposed to remain quiet, who end up throwing a party that just keeps growing and growing.

Your kids are sure to laugh at the final book in this great trio.

‘Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving

This cute tale sung or read to the tune of Twas the Night Before Christmas tells the story of students that are visiting a farm the day before Thanksgiving.

They find out the fate of the poor turkeys and plot a great escape.

‘Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving is a quick and cute read aloud that will be sure to capture your students’ attention.

It is great for a fun read aloud, a writing project or a quick story summary.

In November

Students are sure to love In November.

This calm, cozy read aloud reminds students of all the changes that come in fall and how animals prepare for the long winter months.

While this book doesn’t tell a story, it captures the nostalgic feelings of Thanksgiving and fall, and is sure to be brought out year after year for your students.

Turkey Trouble

Your students will not stop laughing when you read aloud Turkey Trouble.

This story follows the tale of a turkey who is trying to escape his fate. He tries to dress up as many different animals at the farm before finally deciding to instead dress up as a pizza man to throw off the big Thanksgiving plan.

I LOVE using this book to lead my mini unit on disguising a turkey. Students disguise their turkey at home, then at school we do some descriptive writing about our turkeys.

The Best Thanksgiving Ever!

This rhyming story will bring joy and nostalgia to students’ hearts.

The Best Thanksgiving Ever! is about a turkey family getting ready for Thanksgiving Day with their turkey family.

They are all getting ready, the family is gathering, and they can’t wait for their big meal of …… you will just have to read it to find out.

Students will love this book with a twist. I love to pair this with a simple read aloud summary.

Balloons Over Broadway

Do you need a change up from the normal turkey stories?

There are a lot of them.

Balloons Over Broadway is a refreshing read aloud about the Macy’s Day Parade.

Students will learn how the parade and floats have changed over time in this fun book with beautiful illustrations.

I love to pair this with an informative writing project about the parade and allowing students to decorate their own floats.

Thanksgiving Rules

Another refreshing change up from all the turkey tales, Thanksgiving Rules is a funny story about what a little boy does to help his family get ready for hosting Thanksgiving Dinner.

This funny story follows the little boy all the way from getting ready for family to come, to family arriving, eating their meal, enjoying dessert and more.

I love to pair this with writing about Thanksgiving Dinner. Students love to either write about their actual Thanksgiving Meal or to write about How to Make Thanksgiving Dinner. This is sure to make you laugh!

The Littlest Pilgrim

Mini, The Littlest Pilgrim, struggles to help her village because she is too little to do most things.

After traveling from place to place to try to find somewhere she can help, she finally finds a friend who is just the right size as her.

This is a great way to have a discussion about how life was different when the Pilgrims were around vs. now. It also is a wonderful story of kindness and friendship.

Helpful Resources:

All of these resources can be used with your favorite Thanksgiving read alouds or on their own.

Closing Thoughts

What are your favorite Thanksgiving Read Alouds? Drop it in the comments below so we can check it out!

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