Her right foot

Dave Eggers

Book - 2017

In this honest look at the literal foundation of our country, Dave Eggers and Shawn Harris investigate a seemingly small trait of America's most emblematic statue. What they find is about more than history, more than art. What they find in the Statue of Liberty's right foot is the message of acceptance that is essential to an entire country's creation.

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jE/Eggers
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Subjects
Genres
Picture books
Published
San Francisco, California : Chronicle Books [2017]
Language
English
Main Author
Dave Eggers (author)
Other Authors
Shawn (Artist) Harris (illustrator)
Physical Description
104 unnumbered pages : color illustrations ; 22 x 27 cm
Audience
Ages 5-8.
K to Grade 3.
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN
9781452162812
Contents unavailable.
Review by Booklist Review

*Starred Review* She's quite a lady, that Statue of Liberty, and here, in sprightly text and pictures, is all you ever wanted to know about her (and perhaps a bit more). She came to us as a gift from France in 1885, to retrospectively celebrate our country's centennial. She was a prodigious gift, standing 305 feet above the water and weighing 450,000 pounds, and came in 214 massive parts to be assembled into America's largest sculpture. So far, so predictable, but here's where it goes offbeat. Eggers' focus is not on the torch or the seven-spiked crown or any other customary feature; instead, he focuses on her right foot, which, with its heel lifted off the ground, is caught in midstride. Yes, the statue is walking somewhere. Eggers has his own theory as to where and why (spoiler alert: it has to do with liberty and freedom). The author's informal, good-humored text is expanded by Harris' cut-paper and ink pictures, which range in size from sketches to double-page spreads. In a time when immigration is a hot-button issue, it's good to be reminded that Lady Liberty continues to lift her lamp beside the golden door.--Cart, Michael Copyright 2017 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

The history of the Statue of Liberty is well-known: Frenchman Édouard de Laboulaye conceived of the idea of a monument for the United States's centennial and persuaded artist Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi to design it. Eggers starts his own story of the statue slowly, playfully ("Did you know that the Statue of Liberty comes from France? This is true. This is a factual book"). Newcomer Harris's friendly cut-paper spreads show the colossal statue looming over the men who build it. After detailing Liberty's installation in New York, where it welcomed waves of immigrants, Eggers makes a startling observation: the statue's right foot is raised: "She is on the move!" And why is this? "Liberty and freedom from oppression are not things you get or grant by standing around," Eggers asserts. "These are things that require action. Courage. An unwillingness to rest." Harris represents Americans of all colors-veiled, in hardhats, in yarmulkes, in hoodies-talking together, admiring the statue, becoming citizens. Eggers's crucial and timely re-examination makes Liberty an active participant in a debate that is more contentious than ever. Ages 5-8. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.


Review by School Library Journal Review

PreS-Gr 3-Eggers examines some of the history of the Statue of Liberty, including its creation in France and reconstruction in New York. He points out unique details, then focuses on her right foot. Many may not have noticed that this foot is in motion, and the author considers the message that the statue sends about liberty being an active, not a passive, condition. This book lends itself well to audio, as it is written in a chatty, conversational tone, and Dion Graham's narration does a nice job drawing the listener in. Since the text references Shawn Harris's illustrations, it would be best used with the print book. The recording includes two tracks-one with and one without page-turn signals. -VERDICT This is a nicely timed, evocative examination of a national icon, and a reminder of the principles for which she stands.-Teresa Bateman, Brigadoon Elementary School, Federal Way, WA © Copyright 2018. 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

In digressive, idiosyncratic prose, Eggers outlines the history of the Statue of Liberty, gradually leading readers into the detail hes really interested in--the statues right foot, poised as if to take a step. While it takes rather a long time to get there, the books point that the Statue of Liberty is an immigrant, too. And this is why shes moving is well made and worthy of attention. However, Eggers clutters up the resonance of his theme with arch posturings (You have likely heard of a place called France, begins the book) and twee asides (in teasing us about the statues intended destination, Eggers asks, Is she going to the West Village to look for vintage Nico records?). Such fatuities surround the interesting facts about the statues construction and Eggerss heartfelt thoughts about its meaning with a sea of banality. While the construction-paper collage illustrations arent always stylistically coherent from page to page, individual illustrations are frequently arresting, such as a silhouette portrait of the statue seemingly gliding past a full moon in a salmon-hued sky. roger Sutton (c) Copyright 2017. 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

Everyone knows what the Statue of Liberty stands forbut, as Eggers notes, she's not actually "standing" at all. Taking his time, as usual, at getting to the point, Eggers opens with the often told tale of the monument's origins, preliminary construction, deconstruction, and shipping to "a city called New York, which is in a state also called New York." He describes the statue's main features, from crown to gown ("a very heavy kind of garment," likely to cause "serious lower back issues")and points out that her right heel is not planted but lifted. What does this signify? That "she is walking! This 150 foot woman is on the go!" She's stepping out into the harbor, he suggests, to give new arrivals from Italy and Norway, Cambodia and Estonia, Syrians, Liberians, and all who have or will come an eager welcome. After all, he writes, she's an immigrant too, and: "She is not content to wait." In Harris' ink-and-construction-paper collages, Parisian street scenes give way to close-up views of the brown (later green) ambulatory statue, alternating with galleries of those arrivals and their descendants, who are all united in their very diversity of age, sex, dress, and skin color. Photos, including one of the Emma Lazarus poem, cap this urgent defense of our "Golden Door." Occasionally mannered but heartfelt throughout and indisputably timely. (bibliography, source list) (Picture book. 9-13, adult) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.