Liberty Arrives! How America’s Grandest Statue Found Her Home

Byrd tells an informative and visually detailed story about the inception, construction, and transportation of the Statue of Liberty. The text introduces French sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi, whom a French judge commissioned to create a U.S. monument—as long as the young nation could raise money for the statue’s base. Byrd’s finely lined ink and watercolor illustrations show the incremental and labor-intensive process of building the statue. Laborers are seen hammering copper sheets into wooden molds and riveting “the sheets together like a quilt.” Byrd movingly describes how, when funding for the pedestal came up short, adults and children across America made donations. This moving ode to a monument—and the collaboration that led to her creation—concludes with a portrait-oriented spread showing Lady Liberty gleaming against sunset skies. Back matter features photographs, a timeline, and a discussion of the statue’s symbolism. Ages 6–9.[em] (June) [/em]