From School Library Journal
Grade 3–5—Thomas Moran was an artist/illustrator who, in 1871, left the comforts of civilization to join a scientific expedition to the then largely unexplored Yellowstone region. He had never been an adventurer, but what he lacked in skill he made up for in effort. His detailed drawings, paintings, and journal entries helped convince the U.S. Congress to make Yellowstone our first national park. Judge's account of Moran's adventures is interesting and engaging. Though somewhat fictionalized, it is based on firsthand accounts. Throughout the story Judge includes quotations from Moran's notebooks and from the journals of others on the expedition. An author's note mentions Moran's further adventures, but there is little about his earlier life. Judge's watercolors are done in the style of Moran's artwork. They are painted with energetic lines and the rich, earthy colors of the American West. A reproduction of the artist's famous painting,
The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, appears on the final page. This book does a great job of introducing a somewhat obscure artist to a young audience.—
Donna Cardon, Provo City Library, UT END
Rare is the book that makes painting seem adventurous, but this true-life account of Thomas Moran’s journey to the land called “Yellowstone” does just that. Although Moran “had never ridden a horse, never shot a gun, and never slept in the open air,” his itch to paint the wildness of nature led him to sign up with Dr. Hayden’s seminal journey into the Rockies. Although only one actual Moran painting is included, Judge’s expressive watercolors are visually exciting in their own right, using careful blotches to suggest facial expressions and interlocking swaths of browns and yellows to depict the glorious expanse of a thousand-foot canyon. Most impressive of all are the cataclysmic whites used to illustrate the exploding base of a waterfall (with a tiny Moran sitting at his easel in the foreground). Chronicling the expedition’s many struggles, Judge makes a powerful argument for visiting Yellowstone and appreciating Moran’s efforts. Get readers hooked with this one, and when they’re older, bring on Susanna Reich’s Painting the Wild Frontier (2008). Grades 1-3. --Daniel Kraus
