cbr16bingo Vintage (Of an age) and the statue is over 40 years old…so counts)
Liberty by Julian Voloj and illustrated by Jorg Hartmann is a solid, strong book about the Statue of Liberty. There are creative illustrations that bring to life not just the ins and outs of the statue, but the history and the feelings of the times. We see the country through the eyes of a well-to-do Frenchman, his contemporaries and how France and the US differ and are similar. What little I had been taught was there, but there was so much more. And honestly, I came away with feelings and thoughts that would never have occurred to me due to how it was taught to me versus how Voloj presents it.
The reader can take the surface story or dig a little deeper (such as my feeling that honestly this project felt like the statue was one of the largest and most expensive attempts at immortality that I have seen). The How We See the Statue Now versus what it was meant to be has radically changed, and if you are paying attention, it is clear why this happened. I think the aged 10 to 14 reader will get information, have fun and enjoy it (especially if into history). Or it is a great book for a classroom setting. The adult reader will see how an old world country and an upstart newbie created art, history and more. Use it in art classes, history classes (French and American) and even literature (the graphic novel format and style of writing is a great prompt for nonfiction writing, as well as a few poets are mentioned. You can even use it as a women’s history piece, as there are several women as well.
I didn’t give this a five only because the panels were sometimes a little crowded, making things hard for me to see, but I liked how the text didn’t blend into the background or the illustrations, and it all supported the story without overwhelming it. This allowed me to concentrate on the information presented. It is a fast read, but take your time with it and do not rush through like I found myself doing! Also, a nice quiet spot to concentrate on this would be highly recommended. Liberty will be in my Top 20 Books of 2024.