Celebrating America: A Collection of Poems and Images of the American Spirit

The diverse voices of American culture come alive in a collection of poetry that ranges from ancient Native American songs to the words of Walt Whitman and other notables, all enhanced by the artwork of American artists including Georgia O'Keeffe and Winslow Homer.

Grade 4-7-Celebrating America aims to do just that...and succeeds. Anthologist Whipple has selected and woven images and words into a fabric that evocatively explores the stories, the heart, the people, and the spirit of the land, from fledgling nationhood to proud cultural icon. Sculpture, painting, photography and other treasures from the Art Institute of Chicago illustrate the more than 60 poems included. Cowboy lyrics hang out with Remington's sculptures. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Carl Sandburg mingle with Georgia O'Keeffe and Winslow Homer, but unknowns live here too. Native American verse reflects the honor and respect found in accompanying drawings. Contemporary poetry addresses the elusive spirit seamlessly with avant-garde and modernist paintings. Layout is varied and clean, with white space and borders pulling it all together. Black-and-white and full-color reproductions reflect time and place, effectively setting the moods. Notes on the art are included, as well as an index of poets, artists, and first lines. The volume is a history book of sorts, offering students a more tangible way of accessing our nation's past, people, and power. Alone, the poems and artwork offer strong glimpses of America. Combined, the effect is as symbolic as the flag, as powerful as the Statue of Liberty, and as touching as the landscape.
Sharon Korbeck, Milwaukee Public Library
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Multiculturalism and old-fashioned Americana jostle for space in this overambitious anthology, which aims to create, Whipple writes, "a pastiche of art and poetry that represents the uniqueness of the American spirit." While the goal may be laudable, the collection proves more deflating than inspirational. Whipple's selections are somewhat eclectic, from a passage from Longfellow's "Paul Revere's Ride" to verse by Gwendolyn Brooks, and the art ranges from a Thomas Cole Romantic landscape to a Jasper Johns minimalist map (despite the attempt at inclusiveness, contemporary Hispanic authors and artists are underrepresented). The groupings of image and poem, however, are ruled by an almost numbing literalness. A traditional sailing song is paired with a sailing scene by Winslow Homer; Edward Hopper's famous "Nighthawks" is reduced to illustration for Whipple's own "My Dad": "My dad works late in a coffee shop/ to put bread on the table,/ he says." The unfortunate result is to encourage children to view art for its narrative content only. Furthermore, the determinedly egalitarian layout and small reproductions do certain artists, especially the abstract expressionists, a real disservice. Ages 7-up.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gr. 5-10. In her introduction, Whipple states that Celebrating America is "a sampler .ÿ20.ÿ20. a visual and verbal patchwork .ÿ20.ÿ20. that represents the uniqueness of the American spirit." What she has created is an elegant, visually exciting, and spirited anthology that deserves space on home, school, and public library shelves. Although similar in format to Talking to the Sun (1985), this collection, with poetry and artwork thematically arranged, will be more accessible and more appealing to younger readers because of its simpler layout (most poems and their illustrations occupy a single page) and because of Whipple's thoughtful selection. She includes work by modern writers well known to children (Myra Cohn Livingston and Robert Newton Peck, for example) as well as poetry by individuals better known to adults. Both the art, which was provided by the Art Institute of Chicago, and the poetry reflect a diversity of American styles, periods, and cultures--from poetry by a Toltec writer and by Langston Hughes to art by Frederic Church and Edward Hopper. The collection will be a wonderful resource for classroom interdisciplinary units. Chris Sherman