Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving at the Tappletons was a book we found at the public library when we were little, and it turned out to be one of our favorite picture books for any season.  The Tappletons are planning their usual Thanksgiving family gathering, and each family member has a particular dish to prepare.  Everything goes wrong: the blender flings mashed potatoes all over the room, the father is too late to get pies at the bakery, the salad gets fed to the rabbit.  They all cover up the failures, assuming that there will be enough other dishes so that no one will notice. So when they sit down to dinner, there isn't any food! 

Tappletons is currently back in print, but, unfortunately, it's been re-illustrated with the family as anthropomorphic foxes.  Find the original human illustrations, if you can.

Here's my favorite Thanksgiving disaster, followed by Grandmother's table grace, which we often recall when having our microwave Thanksgiving dinner in a hotel suite.

It was still dark when Mrs. Tappleton lit the oven and took the big turkey out of the refrigerator.  Just then someone knocked at the kitchen door. It was Mike the milkman.
    “Good morning, Mrs. Tappleton.  I thought you might like some eggnog for the holiday,” said Mike the milkman.
    As Mrs. Tappleton reached for the eggnog, the turkey slipped from under her arm.  Now, on a warmer day this might not have been a problem.  But this Thanksgiving Day was quite cold and the steps were covered with ice. Before she or Mike could even think, the turkey had slithered into the yard.
    “Get it!” shouted Mrs. Tappleton.
    Mike reached out but the turkey skidded past him, through the gate and into the street.
    “Hurry! STOP THAT TURKEY!” screamed Mrs. Tappleton.
    The milkman chased the turkey...  Mrs. Tappleton chased the milkman... And the turkey slid down the hill into the pond.
    Plop!  Splash!  It bubbled out of sight.
...
Turkeys come and turkeys go,
And trimmings can be lost, we know,
But we're together, that's what matters,
Not what's served upon the platters.