Gr 1-3-Every year on October 28th, Tony's extended family packs a picnic, lawn chairs, blankets, and a birthday cake, and heads to the Statue of Liberty to celebrate Lady Liberty's "birthday." Despite Tony's annual embarrassment, Grandma's need to express her emotions over her long-ago acceptance by her chosen country is paramount, and the family respects that. This year, a chance encounter with a family of new emigres opens Tony's eyes to just what the statue symbolizes, and he joins openly in the final toast, proud and unashamed. Carpenter's colorful acrylics are realistic but soft edged, conveying in their slightly blurred edges the feeling of a chilly, blustery day in New York Harbor, seen through eyes moist with tears (brought on by the wind, the emotions, or both). Bunting warmly captures the lasting emotional impact that the first sighting of the statue can have on hopeful new arrivals. (One slight slip-the text calls the statue "white"-but the illustrations show Liberty in her coppery-green patina.) An excellent choice for an October 28th read-aloud (along with Emma Lazarus's poem), and for a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday to You."-Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Young narrator Tony laments his Italian-American family's annual fall excursion to the Statue of Liberty: he's cold, their picnic is heavy (it includes Lady Liberty's birthday cake), and his grandparents get soppy. But pride overrides embarrassment after he encounters three recent immigrants who lift his grandparents' story from abstraction. Accomplished acrylic paintings illustrate the somewhat sentimental story. From HORN BOOK Spring 2000, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Ages 5^-8. It's October 28, Grandma's birthday, and no time for a picnic. Nevertheless, that's how Grandma wants to spend the day. And she wants the picnic at the same place she always has it, Ellis Island, so she can recall how it felt to see the Statue of Liberty for the first time. A story that could have been sappy gets its edge from Tony, the young narrator. He thinks it's dumb to picnic when it's chilly, gets embarrassed when his grandpa calls Grandma "beautiful," and squirms when his family toasts the "Lady with the Lamp." But he is also touched by an immigrant family making their first pilgrimage to see the Statue of Liberty, and their fresh enthusiasm and love of country link him with his own family's journey to America. The talented Bunting makes this into a real story with characters that ring true. Carpenter's art, vibrant with sea and sky blues, has the same realistic feel: the characters look as though they might turn and talk to the audience. A story that could be read by families as well as in school. --Ilene Cooper

A contemporary Italian-American family living in New York City makes its annual pilgrimage to Liberty Island to celebrate the birthday of the Statue of Liberty in what PW called a "poignant picture book." Ages 6-9. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Bunting (I Have an Olive Tree, p. 719, etc.) once again explores larger themes through a quiet family story. Every October, on Lady Liberty's birthday, Tony and his extended family have a picnic on Liberty Island. The family rendezvous at Battery Park to take the ferry out to the island. Waiting in line, Tony, who thinks the picnic is pretty corny, is approached by a woman, obviously a new immigrant. She gestures her alarm when the ferry departs without her; she is soothed when Tony motions that the ferry will return. Once on the island, Tony's family has the picnic before toasting the statue and blowing kisses to her. Later, Tony spies the woman he had helped earlier, and the way they look up at the statue, ``so still, so respectful, so . . . so peaceful, makes me choke up.'' This sense of refuge drifts through Bunting's text, as fundamental and natural an element of life as are the everyday incidentals she braids into the story and all of which are exquisitely caught by Carpenter's vivid illustrations. (Picture book. 5-10)