Katharine Lee BatesRecensioni

Having worked hard all year to cultivate and create the many gifts given out by her husband every Christmas Eve, Goody Santa Claus—AKA "Goodwife" or "Mrs" Santa Claus—asks in this 1889 poem to be taken along on the annual reindeer ride, to see the end result of her many labors. In twenty-seven verses, the reader follows along as Goody Santa Claus describes the many chores she undertakes, joins the Christmas Eve mission, holds the reindeer while Santa is going down chimneys, argues in favor of an impoverished poet, and darns a little boy's stocking, so that Santa's gift doesn't fall through...

"Santa, must I tease in vain, Dear? Let me go and hold the reindeer,
While you clamber down the chimneys. Don't look savage as a Turk!
Why should you have all the glory of the joyous Christmas story,
And poor little Goody Santa Claus have nothing but the work?

It would be so very cozy, you and I, all round and rosy,
Looking like two loving snowballs in our fuzzy Arctic furs,
Tucked in warm and snug together, whisking through the winter weather
Where the tinkle of the sleigh-bells is the only sound that stirs."

Originally published by the Boston-based D. Lothrop Company in 1889, in an illustrated paperback pamphlet, complete with ribbon-binding, Goody Santa Claus on a Sleigh Ride was subsequently included in Katherine Lee Bates' 1890 collection, Sunshine and Other Verses for Children, and also in her 1916 Fairy Gold: Poems. Readers interested in the poem itself, can easily find it in these volumes, as well as on multiple sites online. The original published edition of the poem alone, together with the accompanying illustrations, is more difficult to track down, and doesn't appear to have been digitized on any of the major sites (Internet Archive, Hathi Trust, Google Books, etc). That being said, I did manage to track down scans of the original edition, on the poem's page on the Hymns and Carols of Christmas website, where it can be downloaded in ZIP format.

Having managed to obtain a copy in this way, I am happy to report that I found this publication charming, enjoying both the poem and the accompanying engraving-style artwork. Author Katherine Lee Bates, best known as the poet who penned America the Beautiful, made into a beloved national song here in the states, creates a feisty Mrs Claus in her Goody Santa Claus, one who is both affectionate and persuasive, and more than willing to press her case. Although not the original depiction of Santa Claus's wife, this poem does seem to have cemented her role as a partner to that holiday gift giver, and a major support to his mission. The poem here reads well, and is just full of fun. I'd love to see it republished, either as a facsimile of the original, or in picture book form with newly commissioned artwork (maybe both). Recommended to anyone interested in the Santa Claus story in general, and in Mrs. Claus in particular. For my part, I now intend to track down some more of Bates' poetry for children, particularly her Christmas poems.½

America the Beautiful takes us through famous quotes said by past presidents. These quotes stand as a lesson for the people of our country. Also, on every spread, there is a line of the song "American the Beautiful".

This is a beautifully illustrated and written book. It shows many cultures and races coming together in America as one. Each page is filled with different and unique illustrations, which I think represents the uniqueness of each individual represented on the different pages. I like how there are different ways you could read this book. One way is to go through each page only saying the lyrics to the song, "America, The Beautiful." Another way is once you have read the lyrics, you can start from the beginning of the book and only read the quotes that are on each page. The last way you could read it is by alternating on each page reading the lyrics or the song. I think another important aspect of this book are the symbols presented on each page. In the back of the book, it lists the national landmarks and symbols and their significance. I would definitely use this book in a social studies class for grades 1st-2nd.

This book illustrates the song "America The Beautiful", and it does an awesome job of showcasing national landmarks (manmade and natural). I would love to use this in my classroom by pairing it with a lesson over important national landmarks.

"America the Beautiful: Together We Stand" is a picture book that illustrates the lyrics for the song "America the Beautiful". The illustrations are by different artists and are all stunning! My favorite illustration is the one by Bryan Collier. In the illustration, there is a young African American child with his hands held together and in the tree behind him there are faces of other African Americans. The amount of detail this work has made it extremely powerful! What I also loved about this book is how on each page there is a quote by different presidents. At the end of the book there is a list with descriptions of national landmarks and symbols in America. Also, there is a page with the lyrics all together, which would be fun to have children sing the song together in unison after reading the book. Overall, this is a wonderful book that not only teaches children the song "America the Beautiful", but also educates children about our nation.

A moving celebration of "America the Beautiful" featuring artwork from ten distinguished artists and inspiring presidential quotes. Each of our presidents has had a unique vision of America.

The picture book, “America the Beautiful”, is a wonderful take on the classic poetic song. The first reason why I liked this book was that at the beginning of the book, the book opened with the song and notes. This shows the reader the musical notes that correlate to the song and which keys are to be played at the specific time. The next reason why I enjoyed reading this book was because of the illustrations. The illustrations were absolutely beautiful. The illustrations are painted famous landmarks in America. The illustrator painted many places such as Mount Rushmore, Red Wood trees, and the Grand Canyon. My favorite illustration was the picture of a waterfall. The illustrator used fine detail, small dots, and an array of colors such as purple, green, pink, and white in order to make the waterfall look as realistic as possible. The main idea of this book was to display beautiful illustrated pictures to go along with the song, “America the Beautiful”.

I wish I could give this book more than just 5 stars because this book was FANTASTIC! The illustrations were beautiful, all based off of real places in the U.S. I was singing the song "American the Beautiful" as I read the words on each page. At the end of the book, there were biographies of the woman who thought of the words to describe America, and the man who thought of the melody to go with it. Also at the back were lyrics to the song and a map of the U.S.A. The entire book contains a song, poem, history, and a map all about the U.S.

Genre: poetry
Audience: Pre k-5
This is a beautifully illustrated book that has verses from the poem with appropriate pictures from different parts of the U.S. It is a great read for all children and I will use this in my classroom to chorally sing this poem at the beginning of each day while I show pictures on ELMO.

This picture book wasn't a story with beginning, middle and end. It was meshed together into a poetic piece with a line from America the Beautiful on each page followed by a moving quote by former presidents and our current president. It is poetic - a very nice read.

Each page shares the lyrics of the song American the Beautiful and how we in America came to be.

America the Beautiful, illustrated by Chris Gall.

Acting on the recommendation of a friend, I recently requested the picture-book presentation of this lovely American song, with accompanying artwork by Wendell Minor, from my local library, only to receive this edition with illustrations by Chris Gall instead. I'm glad the mishap occurred - although I will still be tracking down a copy of the Wendell Minor version - as this is really a lovely book, and a wonderful tribute to one of America's most well-known patriotic songs. Composed as a poem in 1893, and published two years later in the pages of The Congregationalist, a Boston-based church periodical, America the Beautiful is a celebration of the natural beauty of our nation, and of the moral beauty of its history of immigration and struggle for freedom. The words of the song - O beautiful for spacious skies, / For amber waves of grain, / For purple mountains majesties / Above the fruited plain!" - provided the text, and are paired with gorgeous hand engravings that have been digitized and presented in color.

I found it very interesting that the artist here, Chris Gall, was the great-great-grandnephew of poet Katharine Lee Bates, who composed these words, and that he grew up in a home with a heirloom copy of the poem, in Bates' own handwriting, framed on the wall. That hand-written copy provides the inspiration for the decorative endpapers here, while the color engravings, which are really just beautiful, capture the spirit of each verse (or piece of verse) in the piece. I appreciated many of the artistic choices that Gall made, and the diverse peoples and time periods - the Lewis and Clark expedition, the Tuskegee Airmen, the steamship immigrants of the later 19th and early 20th centuries, the firemen who raised the flag in the rubble after 9/11 - he included in his work. I grew up singing this song, and it was a pleasure to be reminded of it. Now I'll have to see how Wendell Minor's visual interpretation of these words matches up!

America the Beautiful, illustrated by Wendell Minor.

Written in 1893, when Wellesley English professor Katharine Lee Bates was traveling in the western United States, and inspired by a number of the sites she visited - the World Fair in Chicago, the golden prairies of Kansas, the majestic Rockies - the poem America the Beautiful was eventually set to music (composed by Samuel A. Ward) in 1910, and has become one of the most popular patriotic songs in the United States. The text of the poem/song is presented here in this lovely picture-book tribute, with accompanying artwork by Wendell Minor, while an afterword gives further information about Bates, Ward, and the landmarks depicted in the illustrations.

Having enjoyed looking at Chris Gall's visual interpretation of America the Beautiful recently - I had intended to read this version done by Wendell Minor, but somehow accidentally ended up with that edition instead, when requesting it from my library - I was curious to see what I would make of another artist's vision of the same song. All in all, I was greatly impressed! I found Minor's paintings beautiful, and when paired with the little descriptions of each that were offered at the rear, informative as well. There is a light-filled quality to his landscapes that really makes them come alive on the page, while his choice of theme and location - geographically and temporally diverse - was quite pleasing. Highly recommended to anyone looking for the song America the Beautiful in picture-book form.

With illustrations by a group of stellar artists (including Yuyi Morales, Bryan Collier and Mary GrandPré)and appropriate margin quotes from selected US presidents, this is a large and beautiful picture book rendition of one of America's favorite songs, "America the Beautiful." Rounded out with a collection of useful facts about the nation and its system of government, this is a "must-have" book.
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A patriotic celebration of America's multicultural mosaic.

This is an informative book about our country as told through quotes from our 48 presidents interwoven with the beautiful lyrics of the song America the Beautiful. Adding to the diverse words and perspectives of our presidents is patriotic artwork depicted by 10 diverse illustrators. This would be a great book to use for a unit on patriotism, our country, and our presidents. It would also serve well for a comparison of diverse illustratiors and their techniques and perspectives.

Good book for ESL classes, too

Beautiful illustrations. Would pair well with a patriotic unit or lesson.

Good book for children to learn about our country and learn how we became a free nation. Good factual book, children need to learn about America and be proud about the country.

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