America the Beautiful by Jill De Haan – The Strawberry Post
A book review of a lovely children’s picture book sharing the well known poem celebrating America along with some wonderful illustrations.
About America the Beautiful
Title: America the Beautiful
Illustrator: Jill de Haan
Publisher: Wide Eyed Editions
Genre: Children’s picture book, Poetry
Book format reviewed: Hardback
Sweet Strawberries: 
Description: From purple mountain majesties to amber waves of grain – wonder, dream, and celebrate the beauty of our land and all who call it home, as you soar across the spacious skies of the USA.
A timeless and beloved classic, brought to life and made to be read aloud FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA!
*Free copy provided for review…
My review and thoughts on America the Beautiful
This is a lovely book celebrating America with the famous poem and song. America is Beautiful is sung at events across the country and reminds citizens of why they love America and this book contains all the words from the well known song, with accompanying illustrations to share the amazing parts and aspects of the country. This hardback is filled with matt pages of some lovely illustrations and text. The cover has some embossing and silver details on it and has a texture to it that feels like a painting canvas.
This book begins with an introduction to the following pages explaining how the original poem and words were written and how they were merged with one man’s music to become the well known song that is sung across America today. I’ve heard this song sung before but being in the UK I only hear glimpses of it and wasn’t sure of the full words so this book is good at sharing the words which if you know the tune you can hear them sung in your own head, lol. The words are a lovely tribute to the beauty and hope of America and the pictures on every double page help bring the words to life.
Every double page has these beautiful pencil or pastel looking illustrations. I love the colours used on every page which are so vibrant. The outlines of everything are done in a bright colour rather than black giving it a bright and different look and I love spotting all the details in some pictures, especially the ones that show many people together. The book does have a timeline of how the poem came to be a song at the back of the book and some lovely end pages too.
Overall this is a lovely book though I think this would be appreciated more by those living or connected with America than those who aren’t. The introduction is geared towards American children, talking about hearing the song at sports games or at school which of course here in the UK doesn’t usually happen, but for US people or those somehow connected to the country, this book is great, and for others a good introduction to this poem and song and an explanation of why so many Americans are proud of their country.
What do you think of this book? Are you celebrating America today (4th July)? Let me know what you think in the comments below 🙂
