Pearl
Although the text is lengthy for the picture book format, Atwell's (River; Barn) folksy, leisurely approach works well here as she offers up key points in the country's chronology. Born at the beginning of the Civil War, narrator Pearl celebrates her 75th wedding anniversary just as the space age lifts off by volume's end. Her family stories stretch back to George Washington's inauguration, and she dreams of the day when her newborn great-granddaughter might "ride in a spaceship and walk on the moon." At times, the narrative seems constructed to accommodate the major events of a century, but Pearl's fictitious first-person reminiscences put a human face on this eclectic timeline of American history. She rides the new transcontinental railroad to Texas as a child, survives two world wars and the Great Depression, and recounts experiences both lofty (encounters with Susan B. Anthony, the Wright Brothers and Martin Luther King Jr.) and humble (buying her first television). Throughout the volume, Pearl's warm voice shines through ("Henry didn't come home," Pearl remarks after her grandson is killed in WWII. "I finally understood how my mother felt after the Civil War. My heart broke for my daughter"). Atwell's full-page folk-art paintings--a sort of Currier & Ives meets Grandma Moses--strike up a vibrant counterpoint as they highlight changes in fashion and architecture, and chart the parallel between Pearl's passage from babyhood to old age and the country's progress from a pastoral to a post-industrial society. Brimming with patriotism and hope, this is a gem. Ages 4-8.Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.