Review: Let Liberty Rise!: How America's Schoolchildren Helped Save the State of Liberty
Let Liberty Rise!: How America's Schoolchildren Helped Save the State of Liberty
by Chana Stiefel, illustrated by Chuck Groenink
Scholastic Press
Category: Picture Books
Reviewer: Sandy Wasserman
FANTASTIC BOOK, but first: Though technically a picture book, there is so much
wonderful information here beyond the picture book genre; this book tells us how
Lady Liberty came to be -- it's her biography! When France gifted the
Statue of Liberty to the US for its 100th birthday, funds ran out, and
there wasn't enough money for her pedestal. What to do? Saving the day,
Joseph Pulitzer, Jewish journalist and owner of the newspaper The New York
World had an idea. He published the problem in the newspaper, asking
for donations, and then published the names of all the donors, no matter
the amount, large or small, including those from children! From spring
1885 to fall 1886, it all worked out: Lady Liberty rose, pedestal and
all, and a parade ensued. (Sound familiar? This was the forerunner to
today's GoFundMe!) Since then, Lady Liberty stands for the hundreds of
thousands of immigrants to see upon arrival in New York Harbor. Along with
Emma Lazarus' famous poem, an invitation to enter the United States of America.
Lady Liberty's entire history is included in the back matter. The
illustrations showing children empowered by all of this is so
delightful, even using quotes of many.
The United States is a nation of immigrants, with Jewish Americans among those huge
numbers. Joseph Pulitzer was an immigrant too. Tzedakah (charity) has a large place in Judaism, as does working together as a
community to accomplish a goal. In its entirety, in making Lady
Liberty rise, this is a Jewish story.
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