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Lynn: When PBS aired The National Parks: America’s Best Idea in September I was glued to the television. I had my popcorn and I sat for six glorious nights marveling at what I was seeing and hearing. In true librarian fashion, I had checked out a copy of the accompanying book ahead of time. I know this could qualify as more than a little geeky but I was so glad I had the book at hand. I knew the show would provide glorious photography and fascinating history but I didn’t realize how eloquent those far-sighted park pioneers were. I turned again and again to the book to read the inspiring words. Here’s a sample from Theodore Roosevelt during a stop at the Grand Canyon before it was a park, “Leave it as it is. You can not improve it. The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it.”

John Muir called the Grand Canyon, “a grand geological library, a collection of stone books covering…tier on tier conveniently arranged for the student.”

There have been some wonderful recent books for our young readers that are outstanding connections to Ken Burns’ sweeping series. Camping with the President by Ginger Wadsworth (Boyds Mills/Calkins Creek 2009) relates a fascinating story also told in the film. In 1903 President Theodore Roosevelt decided to visit the western states and view some of the wilderness areas. An avid reader and outdoorsman, Roosevelt hatched a scheme to have John Muir guide him through the Yosemite area. Ditching the attending crowds of aides, press and secret service agents, Roosevelt and Muir spent four days camping, hiking and riding through Yosemite. The two men sat up late each night talking with Muir sharing his vision of preserving and protecting wilderness areas. The text nicely reflects Roosevelt’s exuberance and the humorous illustrations will attract and engage young readers. Plenty of “Bullys” pepper the text and Wadsworth provides background information, notes and a bibliography. This picture book would be terrific to use with middle school science and history classes.

Cindy: Lynn started getting excited about this series early in the summer and it certainly lived up to our expectations. If you missed it, watch it soon on dvd. Years ago I listened to a great recording from storyteller Donald Davis called “The Grand Canyon.” Check your local library for that audio production. After hearing Davis’ humorous story about the mule trip into the canyon, I now like to imagine, just like Davis, that all of my federal income tax is going straight into the line item for the National Parks Service.

Before we had video footage of the scenic park vistas, the images were brought to the people via artists and photographers. Thomas Moran was one such artist that joined an 1871 scientist exploration so he could record the scenes at Yellowstone. Never mind that he hadn’t ridden a horse before; he was willing to brave all sorts of adventures to paint the incredible views. Lita Judge captures the excitement and the artistry in Yellowstone Moran: Painting the American West (Penguin/Viking, 2009) in pencil and watercolors that pay tribute to Moran’s artistic style. Young readers will be able to see one of Moran’s paintings, included at the end of the text. Moran’s sketches and small paintings were used to seek support from Congress for Yellowstone, and it worked. “On March 1, 1872, President Grant signed a bill making Yellowstone America’s first National Park.” The rest, as they say, is history.

Today’s Nonfiction Monday roundup is hosted by Wrapped in Foil.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 26th, 2009 at 9:01 am and is filed under All Ages, Art teachers take notice, Biographies, Historical fiction, Nature, Picture Books. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.