|
Happy Birthday, America!
REVIEWS BY DEBORAH HOPKINSON America is lighting another birthday candle. And while kids love family gatherings and fireworks, they can also have fun this Fourth of July with three exciting new books that will help explain what all the celebrations are about. From a picture book for little ones to a historical collection for teens, there's something for every age group in this Independence Day collection. From sea to shining sea
Children and adults alike will be drawn to Robert Neubecker's bright and bold illustrations in Wow! America!. The creator of Wow! City!, Neubecker brings to children's books a wealth of experience as an illustrator for such publications as the New York Times and the New Yorker. Wow! America! has a simple plot, but the art takes center stage here. A girl named Izzy lives on top of the world, and when her little sister Jo runs down the mountain, Izzy follows her—all across a map of America. Neubecker is working on a grand, boisterous canvas here, infused with the energy and spirit of the poet Walt Whitman in Leaves of Grass. Izzy chases Jo into a New England fishing village, where the girls see a giant lobster close-up. In New York City, it's a giant two-page spread of the Statue of Liberty. The girls visit more of America's wonders, riding with cowboys and cowgirls, descending into the Grand Canyon, and even crossing the Pacific to gaze down from a helicopter on a Hawaiian volcano. With its large print and vibrant, joyful pictures, this is a wonderful introduction to our nation. The maps on the endpapers provide a useful visual context.
By Robert Neubecker Hyperion, $16.99 48 pages ISBN 0786838167
Although it's an alphabet book, Wendell Minor's Yankee Doodle America: The Spirit of 1776 from A to Z is really much more. It's a fun, informative history lesson for children and for adults as well. In an attractive, unique format, award-winning artist Minor, whose other works include America the Beautiful and Abe Lincoln Remembers, has used painted illustrations on hand-crafted signs that evoke the Colonial period. The alphabet is clever and to the point, highlighting the major people and events of the Revolution, including Benjamin Franklin, the Boston Tea Party and Paul Revere's ride. In addition, Minor includes lesser-known heroes and heroines of the period, such as Elizabeth Zane, a 16-year-old who ran to supply the soldiers at Fort Henry with more gunpowder during a battle. Minor also pays tribute to "Molly Pitcher," also known as "Sergeant Molly," who fought on a gun crew after her husband was wounded. The book includes an endnote with a timeline of important dates and events. Keep this one handy all year for history reports!
By Wendell Minor Putnam, $16.99 48 pages ISBN 0399240039
Speaking of reports, here's a new title that middle and high school students will welcome. Award-winning author and historian Rod Gragg's book, The Declaration of Independence: The Story Behind America's Founding Document and the Men Who Created It boasts yet another subtitle: A Museum in a Book. And a museum it is. For in addition to its lavish illustrations, the book includes replicas of actual diaries, private journals and artifacts related to the drama of independence. Reach into a pocket on page five, for instance, and you can pull out a walking map of Philadelphia in 1756. A replica of a list of patriots killed and wounded at Concord peeks out from behind a period illustration of the famous battle. And, of course, there's also a full-size replica of the Declaration itself. This informative, attractive book includes notes and a bibliography. Gragg, who is also the author of Lewis and Clark: On the Trail of Discovery, has created a unique, fascinating and interactive resource that truly makes American history come alive.
By Rod Gragg Rutledge Hill, $34.99 48 pages ISBN 140160210X
Deborah Hopkinson's new book for children of all ages is entitled Up Before Daybreak: Cotton and People in America.
|
Support your 
Yankee Doodle dandy
Museum in a book