Synopses & Reviews
In My America, Lee Bennett Hopkins weaves together fifty poems -- grouped by geographic region -- to create a remarkable portrait of the United States. Here is America in all its stunning variety, from the dramatic seacoast of the Northeast and the rippling cornfields of the Plains States to the shimmering deserts of the Southwest and the majestic redwood forests of the Pacific Coast. But here, too, are the ties that bind this nation together -- the hopes and dreams of those who live in our cities and towns and on farms.
The voices of beloved poets like Langston Hughes, Carl Sandburg, Nikki Giovanni, and Lilian Moore blend with new voices to sing not just of landmarks like the Mississippi River, the Grand Canyon, and the Everglades, but of daily life across the land. Complementing these personal, moving visions of America are maps of the regions and fascinating facts for each state.
Stephen Alcorn's brilliant, textured artwork makes this book a feast for the eyes as well as for the imagination. Impressive for its breadth, depth, and beauty, My America is a volume readers will savor as they read it time and time again. It is fitting homage to our wideranging, ever-changing land.
Table of Contents
Northeast states: Map -- Facts -- Watercolor Maine / C. Drew Lamm -- Islands in the Boston Harbor / David McCord -- New England lighthouse / Rebecca Kai Dotlich -- Gulls and buoys / Anne LeMieux -- City blockades / Lee Bennett Hopkins -- Frost's fFarm road / James Hayford -- Vermont conversation / Patricia Hubbell -- Capital: Map -- Facts -- Washington D.C. / Rebecca Kai Dotlich -- Southeast States: Map -- Facts -- Kentucky / Lee Bennett Hopkins -- Knoxville, Tennessee / Nikki Giovanni -- Bourbon and canal / Brod Bagert and Charles Smith -- Mississippi / Tom Robert Shields -- Alabama earth (At Booker T. Washington's Grave) / Langston Hughes -- Some rivers / Frank Asch -- Great Lake states: Map -- Facts -- Crossing Ohio when Poppies Bloom in Ashtabula / Carl Sandburg -- This is Indiana / Rebecca Kai Dotlich -- Tonight in Chicago / Anonymous -- Dear cousin / Dathryn Allen Ilitch -- Wisconsin in Feb-b-rr-uary / Lee Bennett Hopkins -- Front porch / Leslie Nelson Jennings -- Farmer / Prince Redcloud -- Pine tree tops / Gary Snyder -- Plains states: Map -- Facts -- Midwest town / Ruth De Long Peterson -- Kansas boy / Ruth Lechlitner -- Laughing corn / Carl Sandburg -- Nebraska / Jon Swan -- Grandpa's Trees / Barbara M. Hales -- Sioux Lullaby / Prince Redcloud -- Winter Dark / Lillian Moore -- Mountain states: Map -- Facts -- "For purple mountains' majesty" / Myra Cohn Livingston -- Boulder, Colorado / X.J.Kennedy -- Driving Montana / Kris Aro McLeod -- Idaho / Kaye Starbird -- Snow country / Dave Etter -- Skier / Robert Francis -- Zion National Park - Utah / Fran Haraway -- Until We Built a Cabin / Aileen Fisher -- Southwest States: Map -- Facts -- Lifeline / Shonto Begay -- Cactus / April Halprin Wayland -- Desert / Lillian M. Fisher -- Hawk / Douglas Florian -- Santa Fe, New Mexico / April Halprin Wayland -- March in New Mexico / Elizabeth Coatsworth -- Grand Canyon colors / Tom Robert Shields -- Pacific Coast states: Map -- Facts -- California missions / Ann Whitford Paul -- California ghost town / Fran Haraway -- Behind the redwood curtain / Natasha Wing -- Seattle morning / Lee Bennett Hopkins -- Alaska / Joaquin Miller -- Mauna Loa / Tom Robert Shields.