America is...

Title: America is..
Author: Louise Borden
Illustrated by Stacey Schuett
Summary: This book talks about what America is to us and what it has to offer. It compares different culture and beliefs in America and points out that it is what makes us unique. It compares places like snow in Minnesota to swamps in the south.
Theme: About America. Points out reasons why America is important and how it is full of different cultures.
Medium: Acrylic

Literacy Elements:

Setting: This book does not have just one location but everywhere in America. It goes from place to other place pointing out what makes America special. It was in different places such as New York, in a farm, in classroom, Chicago, Los Angels, Hudson River, Mississippi, New England (Massachusetts), Chesapeake Bay, Minnesota, in the west, Grand Canyon and so on. The setting is obviously the most important thing in this book since it is about the setting. Without the setting, I think this book would lose its meaning.

Characterization: Once again, this book does not have one definite character but many characters that comes from different culture and where they live. In the classroom, the drawing of children singing the national anthem, the drawing included different people with different background such as Chinese, Native American, White, and so on. It represented America as what it is, full of diversity. Also it showed people from different culture such as people on the farm working, others in business suit going to work, some Indians who was here in America first before all of us, biracial family and many other kinds of culture.

Plot: This book provided very stable plot, nothing out of the ordinary throughout the book. The plot was flat but it showed different things that children should be aware of so the book is flat but for a good reason. It would not be right if it had climax or anything like that. It felt like a poem, with a soft voice throughout.
Style: I really enjoyed the author’s style because it was very soft and smooth all the way throughout the book. I liked how the author put the words in that kind of order, making it more interesting to read. The author also repeated some things such as “This is America.”, “America is..”. I thought it was a great idea because “This” really emphasized that the situation does represents America.

Evaluation/Reflection: This book is a great exposure book. I definitely want to have this book in my classroom some day because it is a great way to expose what is America to children. I liked how it emphasized diversity, which is important nowadays. It is important for us to know and it is even more important for children because they do not know what America is and I think this book points those things out wonderfully. This book reminds us that it is an honor to live in America and we should be proud of what we are as a nation. If I were to rate this book, I would rate it five stars.