Review by Booklist Review
Gr. 2^-4. Borden's poem celebrates both the diversity and the unity of America, with nods to the past and acknowledgements of the present. America is many things--the 50 states, the flag, "old barns and country roads," skyscrapers, people of all kinds ("one family and one team."). It's New England or the South or the West. It's mountains or deserts or trucks and towns. It's the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving; it's the connections we all share, "the stories of all of us, told together." These sentiments are vigorously portrayed in Schuett's paintings, which show assorted vistas and icons. There is enticement everywhere, whether it's a panorama of rivers and streams or the prairie at night. Racial and ethnic diversity is incorporated throughout as well. A handsome celebration of our best virtues. --Denise Wilms
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
"America is our country. It is the place we call home," begins this unabashedly patriotic picture book. Each spread focuses on a defining aspect of the nation, from the flag's symbolism to the country's ethnic diversity. Borden (The Little Ships) brings little individuality to this familiar subject. She praises America's "very first people... whose words bring wisdom to all who listen" as well as "those of us who came later: many kinds of people from many countries of the world. We are one family, and one team. We are Americans." The author touches down in farming country ("America is... old barns and country roads, fields of corn and wheat"), on busy urban streets ("America is skyscrapers, tall, with many windows, up, up, up"), the prairie ("tall grass, and wind, and stars") as she introduces the basic elements of democracy ("America is... the land where we are free. To live. To speak out. To worship. To work. To play. To follow our dreams"). As the text travels from New England to the Pacific Northwest, Niagara Falls to Western rodeos, Schuett's (Purple Mountain Majesties) stirring illustrations take full advantage of the sweeping scope. Her mixed-media paintings offer expansive vistas as well as focused vignettes, all peopled with a multicultural cast. Ages 6-9. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3-"America is our country. It is the place we call home. We are the nation whose name means freedom to people all over the world." So begins this extended attempt to define a country in a picture-book poem. Beginning with the basics of 50 states, moving through traditional symbols, and on to varieties of occupations, transportation, communication, and geography, the recurring emphasis is on " a nation where fifty states meet, where we are all one." Diversity of place-farms to skyscrapers, rodeos to Niagara Falls-and people are presented as creating one "family, and one team." The full-color acrylic, gouache, and ink illustrations are attractive and expansive, but also reinforce the cliched nature of the text. The title page's eagle perched against a star-spangled sky, the Statue of Liberty silhouetted against the flaming sunrise on the next page-it's a bit of overkill, but right in keeping with the romanticized, idealized, traditional images that the author presents. The cast of children and parents is nicely individualized in terms of ethnic features, but there is a sameness to their postures and expressions that saps the vibrancy from the diversity. The treacly acknowledgment of Native Americans-"the proud tribes who live in peace with the earth and the sky "-is no less a stereotype for being positively inclusive. America is many of the things mentioned here, and the poet is entitled to her vision, but relentless wishful thinking denies the complexity of a nation that also includes homeless children, hungry families, and people of color whose experiences belie the "we are all one" refrain. For all its good intentions, this selective series of platitudes isn't going to enrich children's knowledge or experience in any significant way.-Nancy Palmer, The Little School, Bellevue, WA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Borden rehearses clichés (ôAmerica is...old barns / and country roadsö) and platitudes (ôWe are one family, / and one teamö) in an overbroad rhapsody of patriotism. The textÆs use of hyperbole (ôwe are the nation / whose name means freedom / to people all over the worldö) and laundry list of solely positive attributes contribute to the jingoistic aura. Large paintings with unusual perspectives have more originality than the text. From HORN BOOK Fall 2002, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
You can practically hear the music swell behind Borden's celebration of the US, a land where, between "rugged mountains with caps of snow" and "the swamps and bayous of the Deep South," people "rush to and from work," "proud tribes . . . live in peace with the earth and the sky," and "American farmers grow food that feeds families all over the world." Using lambent acrylics, Schuett (Are Trees Alive?, p. 419, etc.) echoes the text's high tone with scenes of rippling flags, multicultural groups of proud, prosperous-looking citizens, maps in jewel-like colors, Fourth of July fireworks, and sweeping landscapes. It's a stirring tribute, though the glow of idealism washes out any hint that this country might not be paradise on Earth for all of its residents. Woody Guthrie's This Land Is Your Land, illustrated by Kathy Jakobsen (1998), is at least as inspirational while, with its suggestion that we may still be a few steps away from Utopia, providing readers with a clearer-eyed view. (Picture book. 5-8)
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
