America the Beautiful (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Neil Waldman (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A Wellesley professor's trip to Pikes Peak in 1893 inspired the now-famous verse extolling the American landscape; Waldman ( Light ; Bring Back the Deer ) writes that his own travels west instilled in him an awe of "beauty beyond the realm of imagination." Using Bates's verse as his text, Waldman paints scene after scene, matching every phrase to a specific locale (these are identified in a well-designed key at the end). He pays homage to the "spacious skies" (above the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee), the "purple mountain majesties" (the Grand Tetons) and the "fruited plains" (the Napa Valley). Impressively and imaginatively, he conveys his wonder at natural beauty by stylizing his art: he renders each vista in thick, impressionistic strokes from a predominantly violet palette, choosing his colors as if from a paradigmatic sunset. Beautiful indeed. All ages.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

K Up-Waldman has produced 14 stunning acrylic paintings to illustrate the first stanza of Bates's poem, and the America depicted here is as beautiful as hers must have been in 1893. Each picture is reproduced in miniature and accompanied by a brief explanation of the site at the back of the book. Although it really needs no interpretation to be appreciated and enjoyed as art, some of the impressionistic portraits will not be easily recognized. It is therefore useful to learn that "purple mountains" rise majestically in the Grand Tetons of northern Wyoming and the "fruited plain" is in California's Napa Valley. Even for the familiar, such as Mount Rushmore, the information is of interest. A fine title that should inspire its readers with a desire to see these wonders for themselves.
Linda Greengrass, Bank Street College Library, New York City
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Atheneum (August 31, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689318618
• ISBN-13: 978-0689318610
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,301,067 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for kids!, March 5, 2002

By	A. Y. Smittle (Winchester, VA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I wanted to just "read" the book to the kids. But gosh, I started singing it. And did they love it. I sang and flipped pages as fast as I could. Over and over. I teach preschool and this was America week. This was pretty much the only book about America their "level." It has beautiful "impressionistic" painitings of all sorts of beautiful and significant places in America that you can talk about. And if you are proud and interested, the kids will be too. We sit on a map rug so the kids are getting familiar with all our landmarks. But this book helps learn the song and gets them familiar with our nation. The last page has a picture of the Statue of Liberty in the harbor, "from sea to shining sea." I felt so good to read this to the kids. Please get this to make not only children feel good about where they come from, but also you as well!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It has wondeful illustrations., December 11, 1998

By A Customer

The book has good illustrations and it has the song five times. The illustrations go very nicely with the words to the song.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Review by Livingston Parent Journal, June 21, 2004

By	Rick M. Mcgarry "Livingston Parent Journal" (Fowlerville, MI United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Samuel Ward (1847-1903) was the organist at Grace Episcopal Church in Newark in 1882. One day a melody popped into his head as he was riding the boat back from Coney Island. He called it "Materna" and it was first published in 1888.

Katharine Lee Bates (1859-1929) was an English professor at Wellesley College in Massachusetts. In 1893 she made a trip by train to Colorado. From the to of Pikes Peak she saw the Rocky Mountains in one direction and the Great Plains in the other, and she felt inspired to write about the beauty of America. Her poem was published in the Fourth of July issue of The Congregationalist in 1895. Her poem was popularly sung to Ward's tune, and they were first published together in 1910.(...)

Later in the 1900s Neil Waldman was staying at a kibbutz in Israel. His friend Moti Shuvai insisted that they take a road trip together through America. They traveled from New York through the Northern Rockies, down along the Pacific Coast, back through the Southwest and the South to New York, 13,000 miles. Waldman combines his sixteen paintings, "a visual record of that first cross-country trip", with the words to "America the Beautiful", written by Katharine Lee Bates, to make a children's book that celebrates the scenic glory of America. "...it should inspire readers with a desire to see these wonders for themselves."(School Library Journal)

In the foreword he says this, "...I have traveled to four continents and more than a score of countries, but nothing I have seen can match the magnificent splendor that lies within our own borders."

Parents will have a chance to tell about when they have visited these places, or make plans with their children to do so, because an appendix describes all of the places featured in the paintings. They include Niagara Falls, The Great Smoky Mountains, The Grand Canyon and the California Redwoods. Families also could talk about the beautiful places in Michigan or even Livingston County that Bates and Waldman unfortunately never had a chance to see. Or other places you have visited that are not included like Florida, Alaska, or Hawaii.

This book also helps to make art and poetry accessible to children of all ages, and each child can relate to it in his own way. The folks at Publishers Weekly relate to it like this: "...he renders each vista in thick, impressionistic strokes from a predominantly violet palette, choosing his colors as if from a paradigmatic sunset." (If that helps you at all.)

Also included are all four stanzas and sheet music.