The poem “Over the River and Through the Woods”, originally titled “The New-England Boy’s Song about Thanksgiving Day” by Lydia Maria Child was first published in 1844 in a children’s poetry book, and later set to music. At that time, Thanksgiving was a holiday celebrated in the New England region. President James Madison declared a national day of thanksgiving on April 13, 1815, to celebrate the end of the War of 1812. Then in 1863, Abraham Lincoln influenced legislation to set the last Thursday of November as a Thanksgiving Day, a national holiday.
Below is my version of the poem to fit our times from a grandchild’s point of view.
Source: Over the River and Through the Woods: Lyrics and Story. www.goodandbeautiful.com. The Good and The Beautiful. 8 November 2022.
Over the clouds and through the air
To Nana and Poppop’s we go.
The sun is so bright and blue skies, a delight.
Why are we going so slow?
Over the cities and down through the clouds
To Nana and Poppop’s we go.
We land with a bump and one more thump.
Got the bags? Into the car. Let’s go.
Over the highway and through the town
To Nana and Poppop’s. We’re here!
The kisses, the hugs, all smothered with love.
Thanksgiving! The best time of the year.
Hoping you and yours had a Blessed Thanksgiving.
Safe Travels to All
Hi Jacki, i absolutely love your version of “Overthe River and Through the Woods”. Perfect for the Big Man on Campus!
Thanks! It was fun updating this song. We would sing it in elementary school.
I loved your rewrite of the poem from a grandchild’s view.
Thank you! It took some thinking to do the re-write but I had fun doing it.