Samuel Ward (1847-1903) was the organist at Grace Episcopal Church in Newark in 1882. One day a melody popped into his head as he was riding the boat back from Coney Island. He called it "Materna" and it was first published in 1888.Katharine Lee Bates (1859-1929) was an English professor at Wellesley College in Massachusetts. In 1893 she made a trip by train to Colorado. From the to of Pikes Peak she saw the Rocky Mountains in one direction and the Great Plains in the other, and she felt inspired to write about the beauty of America. Her poem was published in the Fourth of July issue of The Congregationalist in 1895. Her poem was popularly sung to Wards tune, and they were first published together in 1910.(...)
Later in the 1900s Neil Waldman was staying at a kibbutz in Israel. His friend Moti Shuvai insisted that they take a road trip together through America. They traveled from New York through the Northern Rockies, down along the Pacific Coast, back through the Southwest and the South to New York, 13,000 miles. Waldman combines his sixteen paintings, "a visual record of that first cross-country trip", with the words to "America the Beautiful", written by Katharine Lee Bates, to make a childrens book that celebrates the scenic glory of America. "...it should inspire readers with a desire to see these wonders for themselves."(School Library Journal)
In the foreword he says this, "...I have traveled to four continents and more than a score of countries, but nothing I have seen can match the magnificent splendor that lies within our own borders."
Parents will have a chance to tell about when they have visited these places, or make plans with their children to do so, because an appendix describes all of the places featured in the paintings. They include Niagara Falls, The Great Smoky Mountains, The Grand Canyon and the California Redwoods. Families also could talk about the beautiful places in Michigan or even Livingston County that Bates and Waldman unfortunately never had a chance to see. Or other places you have visited that are not included like Florida, Alaska, or Hawaii.
This book also helps to make art and poetry accessible to children of all ages, and each child can relate to it in his own way. The folks at Publishers Weekly relate to it like this: "...he renders each vista in thick, impressionistic strokes from a predominantly violet palette, choosing his colors as if from a paradigmatic sunset." (If that helps you at all.)
Also included are all four stanzas and sheet music.
Review by Livingston Parent Journal
Great for kids!