Pegi Deitz Shea

Author Pegi Deitz Shea and illustrator Wade Zahares team up in this picture book history of the Statue of Liberty. The text follows the evolution of this iconic monument, which began as an idea conceived by French law professor Edouard de Laboulaye—a gift to be given from the people of France to those of America—and which was then designed and created by sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, with the help of many craftsmen and engineers, including Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel, who show more subsequently constructed the Eiffel Tower. The narrative also discusses the fundraising on both sides of the Atlantic that went into the project, both for the statue and for its base, built in New York Harbor, as well as the transportation of the giant statue in pieces, and its reconstruction in its new home. The book closes with two pages of additional information, arranged chronologically, as well as a pronunciation guide to various French names, and a list of further reading...

I read Liberty Rising: The Story of the Statue of Liberty at the same time as Betsy and Giulio Maestro's The Story of the Statue of Liberty, another picture book covering the same story, and my reaction to both was undoubtedly driven by this fact, and by the comparisons that it was inevitable that I make. I appreciated the informative and engaging text here, which offered far more detail than did the Maestros' book, and I liked that emphasis was put on the involvement of many different figures in the creation of this most famous statue and monument. The Maestros' book focused almost exclusively on Bartholdi, whereas here Shea also brought in Laboulaye, Eiffel, and Richard Morris Hunt, the American architect who designed the statue's pedestal, and Joseph Pulitzer, the newspaperman who led fundraising efforts. That being said, while I preferred the text here, I found Giulio Maestro's illustrations in the other book more appealing than Wade Zahares' work here. Done in pastels, the paintings here are colorful, but also sometimes felt a little muddled to me, lacking the clarity and simplicity of Maestro's watercolors. I liked the four-page pull-out section showing Lady Liberty in all her glory, but on the whole I wasn't terribly impressed with this one, visually speaking. Ideally, I would have liked to combine the text here with the artwork there. All this being said, I still found this one engaging, and might have enjoyed the artwork more, were I not comparing it to another artist's style. I would recommend this one for use in upper elementary school, for older picture book audiences. It could be paired with titles like Linda Glaser and Claire A. Nivola's Emma's Poem: The Voice of the Statue of Liberty, about the poet Emma Lazarus, who wrote the famous poem The Colossus about the Statue of Liberty. show less

After showing his baby sister Vinnie the full moon—la luna—one November night, a young boy finds that she is always looking for it in this sweet picture book about two siblings and their fascination with this heavenly body. Discontented when it cannot be seen because of clouds or rain, and confused when it has a different shape, she is nevertheless pleased to find it in so many of her storybooks. Then one winter day the boy races home, eager to share the sight of the moon rising in the show more afternoon sky—visible during the day...

Published in 1996, New Moon is the fifth picture book I have read from author Pegi Deitz Shea, and the second from illustrator Cathryn Falwell, and is probably not a book I would have stumbled across on my own, had I not recently rediscovered Shea's work, and decided to seek out more of it. It offers a heartwarming depiction of the loving relationship between a brother and sister—the illustrations, and the use of the word la luna hints that this is a Latino family—as well as the wonder of a very small child first discovering the existence of the moon, and by extension, the magic of the outside world. The accompanying artwork, created using a cut-paper collage technique, is expressive and appealing. This one reminded me a bit of some of author/illustrator Judith Caseley's work—solidly appealing, slice-of-life stories for the picture book set. Recommended to those seeking sweet sibling stories for younger children. show less

Author Pegi Deitz Shea and illustrator Bethanne Andersen explore the life history of 18th-century American wax sculptor and Revolutionary War spy Patience Wright in this engaging picture book biography. Born in the American colonies in 1725 to a family of Quakers, Patience Lovell had an unusual upbringing for a girl of the time, given an education, raised as a vegetarian, and encouraged to develop her artistic talent. Years later, when her husband died, she became a professional wax sculptor show more in order to support her five children, going into business with her sister. Eventually becoming renowned throughout the colonies, she expanded her business to London, where she created sculptures of royalty and influential aristocrats and politicians. It was in this capacity that she became a spy, passing information on to Benjamin Franklin and other patriots, in the years leading up to and during the Revolution. The book closes with an author's note, a timeline and a bibliography...

I have enjoyed at least one other picture book biography from both Shea—Noah Webster: Weaver of Words—and Andersen—Yona Zeldis McDonough's Louisa: The Life of Louisa May Alcott—before, so I picked up Patience Wright: American Sculptor and Revolutionary Spy with some anticipation. I was not disappointed, finding the story it told fascinating, and the artwork appealing. Despite being named for a notable woman of the Revolutionary period myself, and being interested in the women of the founding generation, I had never heard of Wright before, so I am glad to have that gap in my knowledge corrected. Wright was certainly atypical for her time period, in both her upbringing and life choices, but that makes her story more interesting. It is sad to think that of her massive artistic output, only one piece—a portrait of William Pitt—remains intact, due to the fact that she sculpted in wax, and her pieces were therefore quite fragile. In any case, I would recommend this one to young biography lovers, and anyone seeking stories about women, artists and/or spies during the American Revolution. Apparently Wright has a cameo appearance in the television series Turn: Washington's Spies, which I have long meant to watch. I think now this will be my next television project. show less

This textually rich picture-book biography of the immensely influential Noah Webster - author, educator, reformer, Patriot soldier, and lexicographer extraordinaire - is chock-full of fascinating information and historical details. I'm ashamed to say that I knew very little about Webster, whose 1828 dictionary (which would go on to become the The Merriam-Webster Dictionary) was the first truly comprehensive dictionary of American English, and was considered a marvel of its time, by show more lexicographers from many nations (including England). His time as student and soldier, his campaigns for better public education, and his role in producing the first children's primers that centered on American history and geography (children had hitherto learned from primers that used English place-names and events), were all also unknown to me.

Informative and engaging, Noah Webster: Weaver of Words is a fabulous book about a fascinating figure in American history and letters (thanks for alerting me to this one, Krista!), one who deserves to be better known! The accompanying oil artwork has a distinctly folkloric quality to it, one that suits the broad-minded, democratic spirit of its subject matter. If you've ever wondered (or if you haven't) why Americans spell certain words differently than their Anglophone cousins the world over - Webster believed that English lexicographers deliberately kept more abstruse spelling conventions, and left out certain kinds of vocabulary (words that 'common' people might use) in order to pander to the upper classes, and keep literacy as the domain of the privileged - then this book will clarify the matter. Highly recommended to young readers with an interest in American history, educational reform, and the English used in America. show less