An Outlaw Thanksgiving, written and illustrated by Emily Arnold McCully
      This book takes place in 1896. Clara and her mother are traveling by train to meet Clara's father for Thanksgiving. At one of the train stations, Clara sees a poster hanging up with a wanted man's face on it. The man's name is Robert LeRoy Parker and his alias is Butch Cassidy. Clara sees that Butch Cassidy is wanted for train robbery among other crimes. Soon, her mother takes her to another train, but this train gets snowed-in on the tracks and cannot move. A kind man that Clara and her mother met on the train called Mr. Jones offers to take them with him to Brown's Hole which was over a day's journey from where they were. Upon arriving there, they enjoy hospitality and a Thanksgiving feast. However, one of the men seems familiar to Clara and she finally realizes that it is Butch Cassidy and the rest of the men and women are outlaws as well. Butch Cassidy tells her that he will not rob her train and that he is just there to give thanks and enjoy the holiday. He gives her a silver dollar to remember her time at Brown's Hole and the Thanksgiving festivities. In the end, Clara and her mother are reunited with her father and she plans to tell her father about her adventure once they arrive in California. The last page of the book is the author's note. Here, the author describes the real outlaws of the time and the history of train travel and its dangers. This book is a Caldecott Medal winner.
          This book is most appropriate for second through fourth graders. It would be an excellent book to accompany a lesson about train travel at the time and how it revolutionized the United States. This book also brings to life the dangers and expectations of Americans in the late 1800s. For instance, the people who owned the railway companies famously cared more about making money than keeping people safe. This would begin a great discussion about the ethics of running a business and what happens when those in power abuse their employees and consumers. Additionally, it leads to modern connections like how airplane travel and even video calls have changed the way that people communicate and travel. This book has the potential to deepen the students' understanding of the people of the time and offers opportunities for students to make connections from history to the present time.