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THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER

Name: THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER
Author: Peter Spier
ISBN: 0440406978

by Peter Spier ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1973

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Peter Spier has put together a real long-may-it-wave 4th of July celebration, with over 100 "flags of the American Revolution, those of its Government and its Armed Forces, and those of the United States of America" for endpapers, and with the music and all four verses of Francis Scott Key's song, a reproduction of the original manuscript, a map of the Battle of Baltimore, and a three-page background note on the war and the song's genesis appended. The red, white and blue illustrations, with the detailed fidelity of Spier's nursery rhymes but in the oversized format of his more recent books, move from the ships and forts and cannons and rockets of the 1814 battle to blander views of documents, government buildings, churches, modern cities, etc. (even a smoky cluster of refineries and skyscrapers, oddly matched with the words "Blest with vict'ry and peace. . ."); in between he goes all out with a field of poppies and crosses and a statue of the Iwo-Jima flag raising. Spier omits Key's more vindictive third stanza from the body of the book and his scenes of slum clearance, field plowing, lab research and moon walking to illustrate "Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just," must be admired as a nifty maneuver; chiefly this is for patriots who believe that what we need now is more flag waving.

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1973

ISBN: 0440406978

Page Count: 34

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: May 10, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1973

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
FATHER, MAY I COME?
by Peter Spier & illustrated by Peter Spier

- BOOK REVIEW
PETER SPIER'S CIRCUS
by Peter Spier & illustrated by Peter Spier

- BOOK REVIEW
WE, THE PEOPLE
by Peter Spier

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AHIMSA

by Supriya Kelkar ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2017

This 2015 New Visions Award winner offers a complex narrative and inspires readers to check their privilege to address...

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Although Kelkar’s debut novel takes place in colonial India in the 1940s, when Indian citizens were fighting for independence from British rule, it is uncannily timely: 10-year old Anjali grapples with issues of social justice in many of the same ways young people are today.

When Anjali’s mother quits her job to become a freedom fighter, Anjali is reluctant to join the struggle, as it means she will have to eschew her decorated skirts and wear home-spun khadi (hand-woven cotton) instead, inviting the mockery of her school nemeses. But as her relationship with her mother evolves, her experience of and commitment to activism change as well. When her mother is imprisoned and commences a hunger strike, Anjali continues her work and begins to unlearn her prejudices. According to an author’s note, Kelkar was inspired by the biography of her great-grandmother Anasuyabai Kale, and the tale is enriched by the author’s proximity to the subject matter and access to primary sources. Kelkar also complicates Western impressions of Mohandas K. “Mahatma” Gandhi—Anjali realizes that Gandhi is flawed—and introduces readers to Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, a figure rarely mentioned in texts for young people in the United States but who is best known for campaigning against social discrimination of Dalits, or members of India’s lower castes.

This 2015 New Visions Award winner offers a complex narrative and inspires readers to check their privilege to address ongoing injustices. (Historical fiction. 8-12)