My America [Hardcover]

Jan Spivey Gilchrist (Author, Illustrator), Ashley Bryan (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

Have you seen my country?
Seen my magic skies?
Seen my mighty waters?
Have you seen my land?

Have you seen my country?
Seen my wings abound?
Seen my water creatures?
Seen my beasts and fowl?

Have you seen my people?
We hail from every shore.
Have you seen my homeland?
Have you seen my country?
Have you seen my America?

In this stunning tribute to our country, Coretta Scott King Award winners Ashley Bryan and Jan Spivey Gilchrist remind us that America's strength and beauty come from the diversity of its people, wildlife, and landscape.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

This unusual tribute celebrates America's diversity in its landscapes, both urban and rural, its wildlife, but most of all its people: "We hail from every shore." The text is a poem by Gilchrist, 13 lines in three stanzas. Both Bryan and Gilchrist illustrate the poem in alternating spreads: his signature color swirls work in tandem with her muted, blue-toned tableaux and faces. Teachers will appreciate the layered message of the poem: that it's our differences that make America one. The words have the potential for choral reading or dramatization, especially since each line of verse is a question directed to the reader: "Have you seen my country? / Seen my magic skies? / Seen my mighty waters? / Have you seen my land?" The full poem is printed on the last page. Julie Cummins
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Jan Spivey Gilchrist illustrated the Coretta Scott King Award Book Nathaniel Talking, the Coretta Scott King Honor Book Night on Neighborhood Street, and Me & Neesie. Most recently, she wrote the Parents' Choice Award Winner My America, which she co-illustrated with Ashley Bryan. An inductee into the International Literary Hall of Fame for Writers of African Descent, Ms. Gilchrist holds an MFA in writing for children and a doctoral degree in English. She lives near Chicago, Illinois.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; First edition. edition (May 22, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060791047
• ISBN-13: 978-0060791049
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 11.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #794,673 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars United Artists, November 26, 2007

By 

Kemie Nix "Founder, Children's Literature for... (Peachtree City, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: My America (Hardcover)

The poet asks a series of questions of the reader, drawing attention to different, worthy aspects of America. These questions, all starting with the words, "Have you seen..." round out into a lovely poem that is an exploration of the beauty of our country and diversity of our people.

The two artists combine in an unusual pictorial duet painting alternating double-page spreads. For example, for the line asking, "Seen my beasts and fowl?" Ashley Bryan has a double-page spread illustrating one word, "beasts." For this one powerful word, he paints a series of arches rising up the illustration. He fills these arches with various, cheerful, stylized animals in bright hues. Children will enjoy identifying the animals. On the next spread, Jan Spivey Gilchrist paints an evocative watercolor of wild geese flying in formation across a full moon. Two very different, distinctive styles meld into one beautiful whole picture book.