Thanksgiving for Thomas

Thanksgiving for Thomas is the inventive story of a boy’s experiences at the first Thanksgiving harvest feast at Plymouth Plantation in Massachusetts in 1621. The book was written in 1979 by Susan Browne Miller, who was an elementary-school librarian and had found a need for more books on Thanksgiving. Susan died suddenly in 1984 of a rare heart defect. Her son, Robert, was 9 years old at the time. Robert went on to become a professional illustrator and graphic designer. In 1997, in his senior college year, Robert illustrated the book, did the layout, and hand-made a hard-bound book with signature-sewn pages. He dedicated the book to his mother. Robert died suddenly in 2002 of the same heart defect as his mother. The book is now brought to the public by Susan’s widower and Robert’s father, Martin, who designed the cover using Robert’s illustrations and prepared the book for publication.