In the New World: A Family in Two Centuries - Rilegato

Raidt, Gerda; Holtei, Christa

Rilegato

ISBN 10: 1580896308 ISBN 13: 9781580896306

Casa editrice: Charlesbridge Pub Inc, 2015

Riassunto

The story of Robert and Margarete and their children Johannes and Dorothea, who emigrate from Germany to the United States in 1850. After landing in New Orleans and joining a wagon train headed west to Nebraska, the family establishes a farm outside Omaha. The book ends with a switch to modern day with descendants of Robert and Margarete living on the same farm. They make the decision to investigate their roots and visit Germany, reversing the trip their ancestors made.

Su questo libro

Recensione:

This import offers a straightforward account of the reasons why a German family immigrates to America and how they fare initially, along with a brief look at the lives of their descendants.
Raidt's conversational text begins with a brisk summary of the economic situation in Germany in the 1850s. This explains why the Peterses choose to leave behind family, farm and friends in 1869 in search of a new life in the United States. Blocks of text are accompanied by Holtei's delicately lined and colored illustrations; they are not etchings, but they recall Arthur Geisert in perspective and detail. These vignettes and double-page spreads add detail and assist in imparting information while also bringing characters and setting to life. Together, words and pictures outline the family's journey in the steerage section, their trip overland to Nebraska and their subsequent prosperity. Skipping several generations, their contemporary descendants are introduced in the final fourth of the book. Motivated by a school project, they reverse the trip and return to Germany to seek out the house from which their ancestors emigrated. Children are part of both families, and the present-day Peterses are a multiethnic family, both elements adding interest and appeal.
While social studies teachers and/or those of German heritage seem likely to be the most enthusiastic audience, the narrative style, informal tone and attractive artwork broaden it significantly.
-Kirkus Reviews

This portrait of two generations of a family, separated by 150 years, provides a forthright account of the 19th-century German immigrant experience. Subheads break the text into brief blocks as Raidt (Nanuk Flies Home) details the particulars of the Peters family's 1869 move from their small German farm to the United States, explaining the financial necessity for their relocation, the hardships of the move, and the strains and rewards of their two-month journey to Nebraska. Holtei's (The Six Swans) crisp picture, a mix of spot illustrations and dramatic wordless spreads, showcase a diversity of landscapes, from a bustling Hamburg port to the equally busy streets of post-Civil War New Orleans and the sweeping plains where the family builds its farm, thanks to the Homestead Act. A page turn brings readers to the present day, as the Peters's descendants travel to Germany to explore their roots. While this reverse journey doesn't get the same weight and attention as the first one, it draws a clear line between past and present that will likely leave children curious about their own family histories.
-Publishers Weekly

L'autore:

Christa Holtei had a long academic career at Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf. Since 1994 she has worked as a translator and freelance author. She has a talent for explaining complex ideas to children in relatively few words. Gerda Raidt studied graphic arts at Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design Halle and illustration at the Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst in Leipzig. Since 2004 she has worked as a freelance illustrator and has worked on numerous books.

Su questa edizione

• Editore: Charlesbridge Pub Inc
• Data di pubblicazione: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1580896308
• ISBN 13: 9781580896306
• Rilegatura: Copertina rigida
• Numero di pagine: 37