I simply love Jackie French Koller's Dragonling chapter-books, as well as her longer historical novel, The Primrose Way, so when my online friends began raving about this Narragansett Thanksgiving title, I knew that I had to give it a try! Nickommoh (a Narragansett word for a celebratory gathering) is a tale, in the broadest sense of the word, of a pre-Columbian harvest celebration amongst the Narragansett, and describes the activities - from games to sweat-lodges - that participants might have engaged in, during such a gathering.

Koller credits Dr. Ella Sekatau, the Tribal Ethnohistorian of the Narragansett Indian Tribe, as an adviser, and uses many Narragansett words (all glossed at the rear) in her narrative. The result is a book that is most informative, although it doesn't really present a story, so much as an extended description. Still, I appreciated the information contained in both text and brief afterword - where Koller makes the point that the first Thanksgiving would have looked much more like a Nickommoh celebration, than our modern holiday - and found the artwork, done with scratchboard and gouache, quite interesting.

Although I do celebrate modern Thanksgiving with my family, I tend to make less of a "fuss" about it, than some other holidays. That said, this is one of a handful of titles I might choose to give to a child, at this time of year. ( )