They Sought a New World [Hardcover]

William Kurelek (Author), Margaret S. Engelhart (Contributor)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up

Since 1820, some 50 million Europeans have immigrated to the United States and Canada. Their story has been told in many ways, but never like this. William Kurelek created hundreds of “immigrant” paintings that depicted his own family’s stories. He also wrote many of these stories down. Editor Margaret Engelhart has gathered these stories and paintings to create a unique introduction on what it meant to be an immigrant and the child of an immigrant.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 4 Up This beautiful history of immigration focuses on 28 paintings drawn from Kurelek's earlier books such as A Prairie Boy's Winter (Houghton, 1973) and Fields (Tundra, 1976) and from his individual paintings in which he attempted to record the histories of different ethnic groups in North America. Each painting is central to Engelhart's short essays on topics such as ``Getting to the new land,'' ``Finding work'' and ``Holding the family together.'' Comments taken from Kurelek's autobiography Someone with Me (McClelland & Stewart, 1980) are interspersed with the text. The result is a pictorial tribute to Kurelek's very personal vision of our ancestors. His empathy for their dreams and struggles and his celebration of their triumphs is apparent throughout the meticulous paintings. The scenes are often dramatic in their composition, as in the painting of a railway crew on a mountain trestle dwarfed by a dark and ominous landscape. Although more detail about specific social conditions in the USA can be found in Russell Freedman's Immigrant Kids (Dutton, 1980), this general introduction can serve students as a starting point. It deals with several issues which are sometimes avoided in historiesthe important role of women and the conflicts between immigrant parents and their children. There is no index. The title is slightly misleading, as the scope of the work is focused on people in Canada and the Northern United States and not the whole of North America. Despite these problems, They Sought a New World is a fascinating look at the contributions of European immigrants. Lorraine Douglas, Winnipeg Public Library, Manitoba, Canada

Copyright 1986 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

“Provides a telling insight into the lives of immigrants…and is a handsome testimonial to the artist’s craft.”
–The Horn Book

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 48 pages
• Publisher: Tundra Books; 2 edition (December 1, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0887761720
• ISBN-13: 978-0887761720
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,963,634 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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