America [Hardcover]

W. Nikola-Lisa (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 6 and up | Grade Level: 1 and up

Fourteen important children's book illustrators--including Enrique O. Sanchez, Anna Rich, Yoriko Ito, and others--representing diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds offer a stunning visual celebration of America's beauty, wonders, contrasts, and diversity."

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-6?Each of Nikola-Lisa's contrasting word combinations?"Wood Land/Farm Land," "Wet Land/Dry Land"?are set on juxtaposed pages beneath a picture drawn by one of 14 contributing artists. This format gives children the opportunity to extend the varied images with their own poems, essays, stories, and drawings, but the renderings can result in some confusion. Some artists depict the joint concepts on two opposing single pages (Keunhee Lee paints a beach scene for "Hot Land" and a snowy one for "Cold Land"), while others have chosen to illustrate their word pairings in one continuous spread. For instance, to picture "Straight Land/Round Land," Felicia Marshall uses a double-page scene of a fairground that includes both straight and round objects. The word "Straight," however, appears under the part of the picture showing balloons while "Round" is found under rows of cars. Only when reading the appended remarks from the illustrator do readers learn that Marshall chose the scene because she remembers how, as a child, "flat farm land changed into round land with the arrival of the county fair." In all cases, the commentaries are illuminating and sometimes become mandatory to understanding the presentation. With this in mind, enterprising adults will slip in a cassette of "This Land Is Your Land, This Land Is My Land," and with a copy of America in hand, celebrate the diversity of this great country.?Barbara Elleman, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Seriously flawed as a concept book, this picture book offers rewards for readers interested in its specific merits. Nikola- Lisa (Tangletalk, p. 646, etc.) presents a pair of phrases for illustration in double-page spreads: ``Wood Land/Farm Land/Wet Land/Dry Land/Rough Land/Smooth Land.'' Each of the 14 spreads is illustrated by a different artist. Therefore, there is not only a different style and medium for each, but a different way of looking at the definition of land: ``Wet Land,'' for example, shows a family in a rowboat amid a few marsh grasses. The grasses and a nearby flamingo convey some sense of a wetland, but then why is the phrase rigidly two words? ``Low Land/High Land'' has in its background the suggestion of tiered hills, but there is a giant fish in the foreground of ``High Land.'' Ice appears as ``Smooth Land.'' This isn't a book for children as much as a showcase for several talented artists, among them Gregory Christie, Hector Viveros Lee, Erwin Printup, Jr., Enrique O. Sanchez, Yoriko It, and Huy Lee. To that end, an ``About the Art'' page includes photos of and quotations by the artists and information on their techniques and published works. (Picture book. 5-9) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 6 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Lee & Low Books; 1st edition (May 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1880000377
• ISBN-13: 978-1880000373
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 9.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,613,115 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

W. Nikola-Lisa's interest in writing books for children began as an elementary school teacher. He is the author of numerous picture books, including the award-winning Bein' With You This Way (Lee & Low), Shake Dem Halloween Bones (Houghton Mifflin), The Year With Grandma Moses (Henry Holt), Setting the Turkeys Free (Hyperion), and How We Are Smart (Lee & Low), a Christopher Award recipient. An accomplished storyteller and musician, Mr. Nikola-Lisa enjoys sharing his writing experiences with audiences--young and old--whenever possible. For more information about Mr. Nikola-Lisa go to www.nikolabooks.com or visit his storytelling blog at nikolabooks.blogspot.com.