PICTURE BOOK - Her Right Foot by Dave Eggers

Illustrated by Shawn Harris

2017, Chronicle Books, San Francisco
HC $19.99 (books are getting SO expensive!)

104 pgs.

Goodreads rating: 4.28 - 918 ratings

My rating:  5

Endpapers:  Cut paper of the fencing around the Statue (at least I think it's from somewhere on the island)

Illustrations:  All cut CONSTRUCTION paper, and India ink.

1^st line/s:"You have likely heard of a place called France."

My comments:  I've decided that I like everything about this book.  How the text is talking directly to the reader.  The illustrations, which are created out of cut construction paper.  The message....oh yes, the message. I'm so glad I discovered this book, since our library has not (yet) purchased it....

Goodreads:  "I want to hold this book in one hand and a torch in the other and stand on an island someplace so everyone can see." —Lemony Snicket
     If you had to name a statue, any statue, odds are good you'd mention the Statue of Liberty. Have you seen her?
     She's in New York. 
     She's holding a torch. 
     And she's in mid-stride, moving forward. 
     But why?
In this fascinating, fun take on nonfiction, 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 powerful message of acceptance that is essential to an entire country's creation. 

Emma's Poem - Linda Glaser

The Voice of the Statue of Liberty
Illustrated by Claire A. Nivola
Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2010
$17.00
32 pages
Rating: 4.5
Endpapers: Dark blue with facsimile of "The New Colossus" written in Emma Lazarus's hand.

In simple verse, this book tells the story of affluent Emma Lazarus, raised in NYC in the latter part of the 19th century, a "fervent humanitarian" who helped and cared about the immigrants passing through Ward's Island in New York Harbor.

When France gave American the gift of the Statue of Liberty, Emma wrote her famous poem "The New Colossus" to help pay for the base of the huge memorial. ***NOTE: Apparently, the Statue of Liberty weas never intended as a beacon for new immigrants - it was Emma Lazarus's poem that ignited that particular flame!

The New Colossus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

An excellent book with lovely illustrations. For any and all families interested in American history and human kindness.