A double celebration for Independence Day!
In this wonderfully unique book, Jane Yolen and Jim Burke weave two stories at once, as readers see young Gitl in Russia leaving her home for faraway America, wondering what new name she will choose for herself when she arrives, and young artist Frederic Auguste Bartholdi dreaming of a monument he wants to build to honor freedom. It is an arduous journey for Gitl as she and her family travel across land and sea to arrive on this shore, but when she sees the magnificent Statue of Liberty standing in New York Harbor, she knows her name in this great new country must be “Liberty.”

Just in time for Independence Day, Jim BurkeÂ’s magnificent paintings capture YolenÂ’s inspired tale of a girl and an artist and their passionate belief in freedom.

From Booklist
Using parallel narratives, Yolen recounts the tale of a Russian-Jewish family preparing to emigrate to America, and the story of French artist Frederic Auguste Bartholdi’s creation of the Statue of Liberty. Mama, Papa, and their four children dream of a life far away from the pogroms. They travel by train and boat to New York Harbor, where they view the recently completed Lady Liberty, which Bartholdi envisioned, promoted, and built over the course of 21 years as a monument to freedom. Burke’s luminous paintings, designed on burnt sienna oil-washed boards, convey the landscapes and details of nineteenth-century Europe and New York. The generous use of aqua paint throughout serves as a contrast to the statue’s original copper color and forecasts its current familiar hue. Most spreads have separate artwork for each story line, but some illustrations are combined when story events intersect. An author’s note separates the fiction from fact and offers some additional resources, making this an ideal choice for introducing the concepts of immigration and liberty to young listeners. Grades 1-3. --Kay Weisman