Liberty Arrives!
How America's Grandest Statue Found Her Home
-
- $8.99
-
- $8.99
Publisher Description
A deeply informative and gorgeously illustrated look at the Statue of Liberty, from award-winning nonfiction master Robert Byrd.
America's most iconic national symbol was a gift from France to the United States--provided America raised the money for the pedestal on which it was to stand. Urged on by the publisher Joseph Pulitzer, it was raised, largely with the help of children, in the first example of a crowd sourced fund-raising campaign. This book tells the story of the best gift ever: how it was designed, created, transported, and then finally erected on its pedestal in the entrance to New York Harbor. Readable text is enhanced with illustrations chock-full of historical detail in Bob Byrd's lighthearted, witty style.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Byrd tells an informative and visually detailed story about the inception, construction, and transportation of the Statue of Liberty. The text introduces French sculptor Fr d ric-Auguste Bartholdi, whom a French judge commissioned to create a U.S. monument as long as the young nation could raise money for the statue's base. Byrd's finely lined ink and watercolor illustrations show the incremental and labor-intensive process of building the statue. Laborers are seen hammering copper sheets into wooden molds and riveting "the sheets together like a quilt." Byrd movingly describes how, when funding for the pedestal came up short, adults and children across America made donations. This moving ode to a monument and the collaboration that led to her creation concludes with a portrait-oriented spread showing Lady Liberty gleaming against sunset skies. Back matter features photographs, a timeline, and a discussion of the statue's symbolism. Ages 6 9.
