LIBERTY’S JOURNEY

Lady Liberty steps out for a cross-country adventure in this intriguing story illustrated with striking paintings by Caldecott Medalist Egielski. He captures the calm beauty of the statue, expanding the given parameters to create an inquisitive but shy personality for the colossal, copper-clad character. She walks westward, seeing the sights, until she reaches the Pacific Ocean, when she realizes she misses her home in New York. She returns to her special place, shown in a sweeping spread of Lady Liberty against the nighttime city skyline. The rhyming text describing the statue’s journey employs some evocative language, but also has some verses with a sing-song quality and a few lines that don’t quite scan. Elementary-school teachers will find lots of uses for this in their classrooms, as the story is applicable to lessons in history, geography, math, and creative writing. An author’s note provides additional information about the Statue of Liberty as well as the words to the poem inscribed on its base. (Picture book. 4-8)