W is for Welcome: A Celebration of America's Diversity

by Brad Herzog, Doug Bowles (Illustrator), Maureen K. Brookfield (Illustrator), Pam Carroll (Illustrator), David C. Gardner (Illustrator)

Overview

2018 Eureka! California Reading Association Honor Book Award

Following the alphabet this book uses poetry and expository text to celebrate America's diverse population and showcase the remarkable achievements and contributions that have come from the many people who have chosen to make our country their home. Topics include well-known landmarks and institutions (the Statue of Liberty and the White House, our national parks system) and famous citizens whose talents helped make the United States a world leader (Albert Einstein and Madeleine Albright). In addition to celebrating America's history and development, key concepts such as naturalization and steps to citizenship are explained in easy-to-understand terms for the young reader.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781585364022
Publisher:	Sleeping Bear Press
Publication date:	04/15/2018
Series:	Discover America State By State. Alphabet Series
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	1,105,813
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 11.20(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	8 - 9 Years

Editorial Reviews

04/01/2018
Gr 3–6—An A—Z poetry collection that introduces various aspects of U.S. culture with an emphasis on immigration stories. Each letter receives an eight-line poem that introduces and sums up the theme with a more sketched out paragraph of information located at the side of the page. Some lines are odd ("C is for Cultures/A salad bowl of many flavors") but most are appropriate for the audience. The more expository text does acknowledge weightier topics (e.g., enslaved people built the White House) but tends to muddle it with vague and tone deaf follow-ups ("So while its builders were a diverse group, the country still had a very long way to go."). The illustrations for each letter are done by different artists (with some artists illustrating several letters), but they all use the same soft, detailed style that perfectly captures intricate landscapes and portraits as well as more complex ideas, such as the naturalization process, culture, and refugeeism. However, a number of scenes depict people in cultural costumes, which may reinforce stereotypes. VERDICT An additional consideration.—Molly Dettmann, Moore Public Library, OK

School Library Journal

2018-03-04
A celebration of diversity in the United States in pictures, poetry, and prose.Mediocre but accessible five-line poems and explanatory text could serve a variety of audiences, as both a poetry read-aloud and a nonfiction text that might spur kids to do more research, if only there were some sources listed. The quality of the paintings and drawings by "nationally acclaimed" artists really varies, from Doug Bowles' sensitive portrait in pastels of Emma Lazarus with an abstract Statue of Liberty crown, on the "P is for Poem" page, to Laura Knorr's old-fashioned stereotypical international children on the "C is for Cultures" and the "D is for Diversity" double-page spread. Middle graders will start to understand some important issues surrounding immigrants (both documented and undocumented) and refugees, but without a chronological framework, young people will have a difficult time grasping the real historical significance of diversity in the U.S. In this "Celebration of America's Diversity" the author has barely scratched the surface of anti-immigrant feeling in the U.S., with one paragraph on the "E is for Ellis Island" page mentioning anti-Asian laws and the detainment policies that kept some people on Angel Island for years.In today's political climate, a book on this topic can be very important, but this one misses the mark in spite of some of the interesting facts it contains. (Informational picture book/poetry. 7-11)

Kirkus Reviews