Common Sense Note
A selective visual history of the United States, full of cunning and humor, with each two-page spread capable of sparking an extended discussion on the pictured locale. The horse rider's journey is depicted in stunning, playful, pen-and-wash detail. There are no words, so participation in a read-aloud is critical. Finding recognizable images is as fun as a treasure hunt.
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Peter Lewis
Readers will come to both envy and cherish the traveler in this wordless book--in Anno's entire series of books, for that matter--for his chance to serve as witness to so many fabulous events in history and for his soothing comradeship: Rarely has one who has spoken so little--not at all, actually--conveyed so much information..
Reading this book in a library is a perfect setting. A squadron of seven-year-olds was sent scurrying to gather additional books to explain the many references: "Go get a book on George Caleb Bingham," they were instructed. "Go get Make Way for Ducklings" or "Go find that history of Sutter's Mill." To have the material further illustrated made the history quite real for these children.
The hide-and-seek setting is not an end in itself for Anno, but a springboard. Once you have found Waldo, that's that; once you have identified two jokers trying to move a piano in the streets of colonial Boston, it is just the beginning of an acquaintance with Laurel and Hardy.
From The Book
The second page finds the.Traveller newly arrived on the western American shore. Looks like perhaps 150 years ago: rough housing, horses, period clothes. But wait, isn't that the TransAmerica building cutting the horizon's haze? Look again to see the Old Man pulling his fish from the sea, a Haida totem pole poking through the trees, and the Golden Gate.
Plot Summary:
Mitsumasa Anno's journeys are cultural and historical geographies of the highest order. Without words but with absolutely captivating artwork, readers follow the peregrinations of the little blue man on horseback as he trots through time and space across the USA, meeting Whistler's mother, seeing the Alamo, and witnessing a zoo escape in New York City, among many events.
Anno's traveler lands his rowboat first in Hawaii and then makes his way across the continental United States on horseback. Along the way he moves back in time, but there are time shifts on each two-page spread: They might be homesteading on the Plains, but they are also playing basketball.
Icons in American cultural and political history are sprinkled tantalizingly throughout the pages. Eventually the traveler makes it to the East Coast, there to find the Mayflower and then, as he pushes off in his rowboat, the Santa Maria.
Related Books:
Also by Mitsumasa Anno
Anno's Journey
All in a Day
Books With Similar Themes
A Small Tall Tale From the Far Far North by Peter Sis
An Ocean World by Peter Sis
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