An Intersection Of History

To this day, I can't believe my parents allowed it.  To this day, I can't believe I did it.  What were they thinking?!  What was I thinking?!

One fine day when I was still in high school, my friend and I left our tiny community and arrived at another tiny neighboring community.  After appropriate procedures and some hefty propeller spinning, the two of us lifted into the air in a two-seater plane built by her father and another man.  My friend, at sixteen, had her pilot's license.  To see our town and our homes from the air was amazing.  All those moments are firmly embedded in my mind and heart as a perfect day.

Nearly sixty years earlier, someone else had what must have been a perfect day.  Wilbur Wright Meets Lady Liberty (Christy Ottaviano Books, Henry Holt And Company, March 9, 2021) written by Robert Burleigh with illustrations by Wendell Minor is an exciting recounting of a historical ride lasting less than ten minutes. For every one of those minutes, you, like the spectators and Wilbur Wright, are enchanted and enveloped in euphoria.

It won't work!  This guy Wilbur Wright must be out of his mind!

I'll believe it only when I see it!

What will people dream up next?  Flying to the moon? 

Those were only a few of the thoughts voiced by the crowd gathered on September 29, 1909.  They wanted an answer to the question of the Wright Flyer really being able to perform.  Wilbur Wright was ready and prepared.  He had a canoe attached to the bottom of the plane, just in case something unexpected happened.

On the water, a congregation of boats and ships, including the Lusitania, were waiting for the flight.  Newspaper reporters stood by in hopes of headlines.  Wilbur Wright took his seat.  The combination of the spinning propeller and the runway lifted the Wright Flyer into the air.  Soon Wilbur Wright was moving at one hundred feet above land and water.

Below him was a city and its people in miniature.  Ahead of him was the Statue of Liberty.  Can you imagine being this man?  He had to get close but not too close.  Even though his focus was firmly on his task, Wilbur Wright could not help but hear the shifting tones of the people below and around him.  Gripping the levers, his feet resting on the bar, Wilbur Wright skillfully maneuvered the plane around this immense symbol of all that is supposed to be held true in these United States of America.

The chorus of celebration was a roar (and so was the foghorn from the great luxury liner).  When Wilbur placed the plane back on Governors' Island, he was swarmed by news people.  Maybe dreams do come true.

For the time you are reading this book, the world around you fades away.  Robert Burleigh skillfully takes his research and forms a realistic, historical narrative.  He brings the sensory experience of that day felt by Wilbur Wright and the spectators to readers with each sentence he writes.  To make it more inviting and inspiring to all ages, he takes the presence of ten-year-old Juan Trippe at this flight and brings his voice into the discussion four times.  (Juan Trippe learned to fly and founded Pan American Airways.)  Here is a passage.

Careful! Is the Flyer too close?  Wilbur hears the

roar of alarmed voices---a roller coaster of cries.  He

understands so well:  If even one tip of the Flyer's wing

touches the statue, he will spin crazily out of control

and plunge to his death.

Looking at the color palette used in this book, first seen on the matching and open dust jacket and book case, you are reminded of air and water.  It's as if artist Wendell Minor has captured those elements and placed them within his paintings.  On the right, front, he uses the red canoe placed on the Wright Flyer by Wilbur to add a bit of color to the text, too.  On the dust jacket, the text, Wright Flyer and Statue of Liberty are varnished.

On the left, back, is a scene as Wilbur flies over the water.  A tug moves from left to right, smoke steaming from its stack.  In the background, on the right, is an important historical building known to those who immigrated to the United States.  Above this, Wilbur slides through the sky in the Wright Flyer.

On the opening endpapers is a recreation of a newspaper headline from this notable date.  It is done in sepia tones.  On the closing endpapers, Wendell Minor has created a map of Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Hudson River, the East River, Governors' Island, and the Statue of Liberty.  It is carefully labeled and there are two explanatory sentences.  It shows the route Wilbur flew.

Across the verso and title pages is a panoramic view of the spectators, thousands gathered along the water.  Several trees show signs of autumn beginnings.  Most of the page is sky, hazy with blue and clouds.  Flying high on the left is Wilbur in the Wright Flyer.

These illustrations rendered using 

gouache watercolor on Strathmore 500 Bristol paper,

like the text, take you back in time.  Some of them are single-page pictures.  Others are vast views spanning two pages.  The details are highly intricate.  Both the Wright Flyer and the Statue of Liberty are breathtakingly portrayed.  One wordless two-page image is stunning.  (Juan Trippe is always in sepia tones.)

One of my many favorite illustrations is a full-page picture.  It is a closeup of Wilbur Wright seated in the Wright Flyer.  Dressed in a suit, tie, white shirt, and cap, he looks nothing like a pilot except for the firm, determined set of his jaw and look of concentration in his eyes.  Each hand is grasping a lever.  His legs are stretched in front of him, and his feet are placed on the bar.  Some of the mechanics are visible on the left.  Behind him are pieces of sky.

Each time I read Wilbur Wright Meets Lady Liberty written by Robert Burleigh with illustrations by Wendel Minor, I am astonished at the accomplishment achieved on this day.  Through the words and images, you can feel the intensity in each of those minutes.  At the close of the book is an AUTHOR'S NOTE divided with these headings, Into the Air---Maybe!, September 29, 1909: Look Up, America!, and Some Interesting Facts About the Wright Brothers and the New York Flights.  There is also an ILLUSTRATOR'S NOTE.  Included is a bibliography for both older and younger readers and a quote source.

To learn more about Robert Burleigh and Wendell Minor and their other work, please follow the link attached to their names to access their respective websites.  Robert Burleigh has an account on Facebook.  Wendell Minor has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  On Pinterest Florence Minor, an author and Wendell's wife, has a board highlighting some of their books.  At the publisher's website you can view interior images.

The Lady Leads The Way

In 1865 she was only an idea; an idea born from a desire to commemorate a lasting institution and friendship.  She arrived in pieces by ship in New York City's harbor in 1885.  Months passed before her full 305-feet-tall height was established.  At the official unveiling and dedication on October 28, 1886 President Grover Cleveland in a speech voiced without the use of notes declared:

"we will not forget that liberty here made her home; nor shall her chosen altar be neglected."

Since that dedication day The Statue of Liberty residing on Liberty Island has welcomed all who visit, begin new lives or return home on the eastern shores of the United States of America.  Her Right Foot (Chronicle Books, September 19, 2017) written by Dave Eggers with art by Shawn Harris presents known and little known information about this great lady, a constant beacon of hope and freedom.  It also draws our attention to a particular aspect of the statue, encouraging us to think deeper about the symbolic implications behind her design.

You have likely heard of a place called France.  

The people who live there are called the French.  Our Statue of Liberty came from the country of France.  Two Frenchmen, one with an idea and one with a design, worked to build Lady Liberty.

Frederic Auguste Bartholdi oversaw the development of his design; piece by piece due to the size of the statute.  Over her frame a skin of copper was fashioned.  You know she was then delivered to the United States to stand in the New York City Harbor but what you might not know is what happened in Paris, France before she traveled across the Atlantic.

Unlike a chameleon the Lady did not shift colors after thirty-five years instinctively but did so because of her materials.  The book she is holding, the number of spikes on her crown, her torch, her interior framework and her construction all have unique meanings and stories attached to them.  One feature of Lady Liberty usually not discussed is the central focus of this book.  All of the information has been leading us to this point.

If you look at her feet, specifically the back of her right foot, it's not stationary.  Oh, no readers, she is not standing still.  Her back right foot is lifted, toe to the ground, heel raised.  For the remaining half of the book, points are offered for us to ponder, discuss, promote and champion.  This Statue of Liberty is meant to move our minds and hearts as surely as she greets all who come to our shores.


As soon as you begin to read this book, you know the writer, Dave Eggers, is passionate about his topic and is ready to chat with you about it, one-on-one.  That's the way his narrative reads.  He asks questions and follows them with his no-nonsense answers.

You find yourself informed but entertained through his sense of humor which is underlying in this book.  An excellent technique he employs is to maintain his lively commentary before taking a huge pause switching up his use of words from

And you may know

to

you might not know.

Here is a sample passage.

Bartholdi liked to see the sculpture rise above the harbor.
Sometimes he watched the construction from the water.
Sometimes he watched it from the land.  Usually he was
wearing a sturdy black hat, for he, like most European
men of the time, favored sturdy black hats.


Rendered in construction paper and India ink the illustrations, loose, stylized and somewhat geometric, beginning on the opened dust jacket, pair perfectly with the spirited, straightforward text.  The limited color palette, blue, green, yellow, white and black brings our eyes to the center.  To the left, on the back, we zoom in to the crown.  A park guide and visitors are standing in the eleven openings.  In this picture as in several others illustrator Shawn Harris includes a cat and a dog.

The book case, in the green shade of weathered copper, is a reflection of the book held in Lady Liberty's hand.  The opening and closing endpapers take us close to the exterior details on the torch when she arrived and as they appear today.  An airplane dots the sky on the final endpapers.

Many of the images span two pages but their perspectives are greatly varied; a street scene in Paris, France, the crew working on the statue's hand, a map of a portion of New York City and the harbor, the Statue of Liberty's face and crown and her right foot with a park ranger and young boy pointing.  With each visual Shawn Harris usually shifts his hues used but his choices are still limited.  His decision to include more details increases the animation but even without the added lines each illustration evokes emotion.  Little touches of humor can be seen, too; the dog eyeing a pastry, exhausted workers sleeping on the rays of the crown and a startled cat coming in through a special door.

One of my many favorite illustrations is when Shawn Harris shows us the base of the statute.  We can see both of Lady Liberty's feet, the front of her feet, beneath her robe.  The broken chains are visible.  It is a large picture beginning on the edge at the left and covering two-thirds of the page on the right.  It gives you a sense of the grandeur of this work.


This book, Her Right Foot, written by Dave Eggers with art by Shawn Harris is a remarkable portrait of the Statue of Liberty.  More importantly it asks readers to think of the intent of the designer.  It asks us to remember what these United States of America has offered to all people during the course of its history.  Some of the lines written by Dave Eggers will leave you stunned by their truth.  Some of the illustrations by Shawn Harris will leave you equally mesmerized.  I highly recommend this book for professional libraries and personal libraries too.  It invites, no demands, we partake in discussions.  There are lists for Further Reading and Sources at the end of the book.


To learn more about Shawn Harris please follow the link attached to his name to access his website.  This title is his first illustrated book.  At the publisher's website you have the opportunity to view and use a classroom guide.  Dave Eggers is interviewed in a broadcast about this title here.   The ins and outs of a children's illustrations project regarding Her Right Foot are found here.  Educator Alyson Beecher wrote about this book on her blog, Kid Lit Frenzy.  Shawn Harris visits author, reviewer, and blogger Julie Danielson's Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast to talk about his process.  Author illustrator Jarrett J. Krosoczka talks about this title on his podcast The Book Report.





To get a little bit of a better idea about Dave Eggers, this TED talk might help.

Please take a few moments to visit Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher to view the other titles selected by participants in the 2017 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.