America’s Dreaming

Casting America as both the new kid at school and this story’s narrator, McKinnon and Phuong roll out a historical welcome wagon. The narrator’s anxiety is palpable on the initial day of class: “My hands are shaking so bad, I drop my backpack and trip over it.” When the teacher asks students to introduce themselves and “share something you love to dream about,” America freezes and the others laugh. Asked by the teacher if they like to read, America nods and responds that “opening a book is like someone opening their door for you. Letting you in to see what their life was like and how it might help you with yours.” Soon, the classroom Welcome Wagon, filled with books whose “pages turn like the hands of old friends waving hello,” helps the new student consider how the words of four historical figures—Amelia Earhart, Martin Luther King Jr., Emma Lazarus, and Sojourner Truth—might inspire their dreams. In Phuong’s cool-hued, portrait-forward images, characters emerge from books to encourage the protagonist. Characters are portrayed with various skin tones. An author’s note concludes. Ages 4–8. (June)