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By: Cassandra Gill,
on 10/7/2016
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At the start of the 1800s, American cities had only a few public dining options such as taverns or hotels; by the end of the century, restaurants had become “a central part of the fabric of cities.” In the 19th century, the landscape of food consumption in America greatly changed. The modern concepts of retail food shops, restaurants, industrial food systems, and diverse food options emerged.
The post The transformation of food in America in the 19th century appeared first on OUPblog.
This looks like it will be my last immigrant-in-the-city themed book of the month. I have certainly not exhausted the topic, but I am happy to be ending this theme on a high note: American Too.
None of the immigrant-themed books I've written about so far have focused on that perennial symbol of hope for a new life: the Statue of Liberty. It's certainly been in the illustrations of most of the books, but in Elisa Barone's American Too, it is moved to the forefront.
A very young Rosina immigrates to America with her family and the first thing she sees is the Statue of Liberty. Rosina find her beautiful and hopes one day to be as beautiful herself. Growing up in New York City, Rosina starts to value her American life and culture over the Italian one at home. She refuses to speak Italian, sits on her hands when she speaks (to avoid gesturing!) and discards her red coral necklace when the neighborhood girls tease her about being superstitious. In the process she acts like many American teenage girls and yells at her parents. Mon Dieu! When, to her dismay, she is chosen as queen of the Italian festival of San Gennaro she harnesses her admiration of the Statue of Liberty and becomes an Italian-American Queen.
American Too is a high-spirited book with a positive outlook on the immigration experience. Ted Lewin's watercolor illustrations are amazing. I am usually a fan of a less realistic style of illustration for children's books, but his painting serve the book remarkably well. The expressions on the characters faces brilliantly capture the emotions expressed in the story. The city in the book is not nitty-gritty, colors are light, tenement apartments are clean and sunshine is abundant. Apartment interiors and views of city sidewalks will draw you in with their detail. The iron work and stone detailing on the buildings are particularly impressive. Having tried working with watercolor myself, I am always amazed when artists exhibit such control over a naturally uncontrollable medium.
Ignore the two bad customer reviews on Amazon, they completely missed the point of the story. Fortunately, the professional review did not. This would be a great book to read in conjunction with any patriotic holiday.
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Bartone and Lewin also collaborated on Peppe the Lamplighter, also about Italian immigrants. I reviewed that book here.
I've also reviewed Lewin's book Stable, set in Brooklyn, and the Lewin-illustrated
2 Comments on Immigrant City: American Too, last added: 10/28/2011
Mom says:
High on my list of great things about the city is the rich diversity. Say what you will about the country, you are unlikely to encounter in a week the variety of cultures that you will see in 5 minutes on the subway. Needless to say, such diversity in close quarters sometimes results in the clash of cultures. However, when people from different backgrounds come together, well.... at the risk of sounding ridiculous..... it's a beautiful thing.
In Bruce Edward Hall's Henry and the Kite Dragon
, the city is once again the backdrop for rival groups. Not the Sharks and Jets, but the the kids from Little Italy and the kids in Chinatown. Henry and his Grandfather Chin make beautiful kites, but when they fly near some pigeons, rocks bring the kites down. When Henry and his friends discover the culprits are boys from Little Italy, their first instinct is to "go down there and fight, them." Grandfather Chin, being the wise man that he is, instead suggests they try a different tactic. When they fly their new, splendid dragon kite in the park where the rivals also congregate everyone discovers the source of the trouble and together they find a solution.
I like that this book shows two disparate groups coming together in cooperation and acceptance without being didactic. I also appreciated the quiet but strong presence of the older generation. William Low's illustrations give wonderful perspectives of the city, making the crowded streets of Chinatown, the sweeping rooftop views and green park spaces dramatic and appealing. The story is based on events in 1920 (there is brief note at the start of the book) and the colors and textures of the paintings easily transport us back in time, while still conveying the timelessness of the city.
This would be a good book to read with Chinese New Year on the horizon (as will my next review... stay tuned).
Big Kid says: I liked that one.
You might be interested in A Picnic in October by Eve Bunting, in which a family goes every year to have a picnic by the Statue of Liberty on HER birthday. I discovered it while helping out at my daughter's school library today so I didn't have time to really read it and can't comment on its literary or illustrative merits, but at first glance it looked worth reading.
Sounds very interesting. I added this book to my Pinterest pile.