Daily children’s book recommendations and events from Anita Silvey.
Discover the stories behind the children’s book classics . . .
The new books on their way to becoming classics . . .
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America the Beautiful
Today we celebrate Independence Day in the United States with fireworks and patriotic songs. The best-loved melody about America does not happen to be our national anthem, which even trained singers perform with difficulty. Most Americans prefer an easier and more haunting song, first published over a hundred years ago: “America the Beautiful.”
The words for this celebration of the American landscape first appeared on July 4, 1895, in the Congregationalist. Written by Wellesley College professor Katharine Lee Bates, this poem was inspired by a trip to Pikes Peak in Colorado. She continued to revise the words for several years, to make it easier to sing. In 1888 music composer Samuel Ward, traveling on a steamboat ride from Coney Island, started humming a tune, one that he had to write down on a friend’s shirt cuff because he had no paper at hand. Finally, in 1910, the words and music of the song we know today were published together.
Following in the tradition of N. C. Wyeth, Edward Hopper, and Norman Rockwell, Wendell Minor stands as the most accomplished re-creator of American history and natural life in the twenty-first century. In America the Beautiful, he depicts magnificent scenes from across the country—the alabaster cities, patriot dreams, and amber waves of grain. In double-page spreads showing the hill country of Texas, a lighthouse in Massachusetts, or Mount Rushmore, Minor infuses each glorious painting with light, dignity, beauty, and love. Each double-page image serves as a reminder of the natural and human-made wonders of the United States.
At the back of the book Minor identifies all the locations depicted in his art, and he also places each on a map of the United States. Background notes about Katharine Lee Bates and Samuel Ward round out this volume, which includes a CD narrated by Minor and a recording of this beloved song. So pick up a copy of America the Beautiful for the Fourth of July. It brilliantly showcases what all Americans can joyfully celebrate—“from sea to shining sea.”
Here’s a page from America the Beautiful:
Other books for this day
Also recommended:
- Apple Pie 4th of July by Janet S. Wong, illustrated by Margaret Chodos-Irvine
- Fourth of July Mice by Bethany Roberts, illustrated by Doug Cushman
- Happy Birthday America by Mary Pope Osborne, illustrated by Peter Catalanotto
Additional Information
A few other events for
- Happy birthday Jamie Gilson (Thirteen Ways to Sink a Sub).
- It’s the birth date of Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864), The House of the Seven Gables.
- Birthday greetings to Koko the gorilla, born on this day in 1971. Read Koko’s Kitten by Dr. Francine Patterson, photographs by Ronald Cohn.
- In 1776, the Declaration of Independence was approved and signed. Read The Signers: The 56 Stories Behind the Declaration of Independence by Dennis Brindell Fradin, illustrated by Michael McCurdy.
- Other notable Independence Days include: 1826 – The fifteenth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence signing, former U.S. Presidents Thomas Jefferson and John Adams die. 1884 – Statue of Liberty presented to U.S. by France 1976 – United States Bicentennial
- It’s Sidewalk Egg Frying Day. Read Sidewalk Circus by Paul Fleischman, illustrated by Kevin Hawles, The Egg by M. P. Robertson, and How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell.