Cranberry Thanksgiving by Wende and Harry Devlin

"Today was Thanksgiving, Grandmother's favorite day of the year. The cooking was done and her famous cranberry bread was cooling on the wooden board. Every year Grandmother invited a guest for dinner and allowed Maggie to do the same. 'Ask someone poor or lonely,' she always said. But she wasn't happy upon learning that Maggie had invited the unsavory Mr. Whiskers to dinner. Would her secret cranberry bread recipe be safe with him in the house?"

While the premise of this one may be evvvvvvvver so slightly silly, and the writing may be ever so slightly choppy, it's also charming; and the Nostalgia is Very Real. I loved reading the Cranberry books years ago (more reviews to come for the rest in the future, hopefully!) and so excited most are back in print at the moment. With the progression of time and since becoming a bit of a true crime buff, I'm now much more cautious of the whole idea of Friendly Gentlemen Strangers Being Introduced and Hanging Round About in Picture Books, but (on second thought) that's rather the whole point of this book in the first place. Which point being, that You Can't Trust Dashing Strange Men. And I think you can take the rest -- with the development of the crusty, confirmed bachelor Mr. Whiskers living next door to Grandmother and Maggie --  at face value as goodhearted, neighborly minded friendship. While always keeping a very careful, wary, parental eye open re both stranger and friend, we also don't want to lose the valuable aspect of real human connection -- and also the feel of being part of a long standing, richly developed little community, shaped by the very land itself, which aspects this little story highlights delightfully.

So yes, after much overthinking ;), I'm happy to be able to pull this one out and read it to the Little Princess, reveling in the absurdities, classic illustrations, and *spoilers* ultimate revelation of Mr. Whiskers' sterling character. Recommended!