Ellis Island

A history of Ellis Island describes its use as an immigration station between 1892 and 1954, an era during which more than sixteen million foreigners passed through its doors, and explains how it became part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument.

Steven Kroll wrote his first story at the age of thirteen. He is now the author of many children's picture books, including Patches Lost and Found, Oh, Tucker!, The Biggest Pumpkin Ever, and Space Cats. He is also the author of John Quincy Adams: Letters from a Southern Planter's Son from Winslow Press's Dear Mr. President series. He and his wife, Kathleen Beckett, divide their time between New York City and Bucks County, Pennsylvania where he has written many of his books.


Illustrator Karen Ritz has a degree in Children’s Literature from the University of Minnesota and learned to draw along the way, attending Rhode Island School of Design for summer classes as a high school student. She has illustrated over forty books, including Kate Shelley and the Midnight Express, a Public Television Reading Rainbow feature, Ellis Island, a 1995 Minnesota Book Award Winner, and A Picture Book of Anne Frank. Her work is housed at the Children’s Literature Research Collection at the University of Minnesota, and several of her books have been chosen for the annual Society of Illustrator’s Show in New York. Karen uses her thirty years of experience in the field to teach about Visual Language at the college and graduate levels.  Karen lives and paints on the 30th floor in downtown St. Paul, Minnesota, overlooking the Mississippi River.