Pearl

by Debby Atwell

Pearl is the story of a little girl who recounts her family’s ups and downs, each moment defined by a historical landmark, from the inauguration of George Washington through the hardship of the Civil War to the Wright brothers’ first flight to the Great Depression and eventually a walk on the moon. Evocative paintings beautifully capture the essence of the United States.

Genres: Picture Books, History, Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 26, 2001

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 5 out of 5]

An immensely moving picture-book chronicle of American history, as related by the long-lived Pearl, the eponymous heroine and narrator of Debby Atwell's tale. Born in 1862 in Maine, Pearl listened to her grandfather's stories of being carried by George Washington on his horse, on Inauguration Day in 1789. She witnessed the hard work of her family on their farm in Maine, and her mother's grief at losing four sons in the Civil War. Visiting her only surviving brother in Texas, seeing the agitation for women's suffrage, marrying and taking a honeymoon to Niagara Falls (a popular destination), traveling to North Carolina to see the Wright Brothers' first flight - Pearl led a full and happy life. World War I, the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, all these came and went, as did World War II, in which Pearl lost a grandson, and finally understood her own mother's grief, during that long-ago conflict between the states. The Civil Rights Movement sprange up, in Pearl's elder years, and finally, during her seventy-fifth wedding anniversary, America landed a man on the moon...

Informative, thought-provoking, educational and engrossing, Pearl offers a view of American history from the perspective of one individual: the eponymous narrator. It links national and international history to personal and family stories, showing how larger historical events and cultural changes are experienced on the ground, by ordinary people. With a deceptive simplicity, the narrative here often highlights the emotional significance of key moments in our past - the pain and loss of war, the hope engendered by new beginnings, the public euphoria accompanying great achievements - always carrying on to the next episode, the next challenge, just as people living that history had to do. There were moments, reading Pearl, that I found myself with a lump in my throat. When the narrator reflects, after losing her grandson, that she finally understood her mother's feelings, so many years before, it left me blinking away tears. Atwell's artwork, done in her signature folk-art style, is every bit as evocative and powerful as the text, somehow capturing each period or episode in single large canvas, while giving the sense of the passage of time. The third title I have read from Atwell, following upon her The Thanksgiving Door and River , this is a gem of a picture-book, one I cannot recommend highly enough. I am mystified that this author/artist isn't better known.

[Stephanie Littig · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up this book at the library because the cover struck me...never knowing what it was truly about except it looked old and patriotic. Boy am I glad I picked it up! Talk about a fantastic history lesson for young children! This starts off with Geirge Washington and ends with landing on the moon, and contains important pieces of history in between. From Civil War, to WWII, Martin Luther King, this book has it. Would be 3xcellent for a history lesson. Even for older kids, you could assign them to do research on the topics included to learn more about them. Fantastic book!

[Miss Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

gr 2-4 illustrated


1860s-1960s. Follows a little girl named Pearl and the various historic events she lives through during her life.