EMMA'S POEM: THE VOICE OF THE STATUE OF LIBERTY

EMMA'S POEM: THE VOICE OF THE STATUE OF LIBERTY

by Linda Glaser

Illustrated by Claire A. Nivola

Image credit: www.amazon.com

Bibliography

Glaser, Linda. 2010. Emma's Poem: The Voice of the Statue of Liberty. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children. ISBN 9780547171845

Critical Analysis and Review

Linda's Glaser's work Emma's Poem: The Voice of the Statue of Liberty is a biographical poem picture book.  Written in verse, this book informs the reader about the early life of Emma Lazarus who grew up in a wealthy family in a posh home.  She became a "well-known writer" and lived in New York City.  One day, she decided to visit New York Harbor and began to learn about the struggles of immigrants just arriving from Eastern Europe.  She befriended some of the immigrants and helped many of them to find opportunities for a better life in America.  Later, Lazarus was asked to write a poem to support the building of a pedestal for a statue coming from France. Her sonnet "The New Colossus" would later be engraved on a plaque inside the entrance to the pedestal and become forever linked to the Statue of Liberty. 

Claire A. Nivola's paintings are rendered in watercolor and gouache and offer realistic portrayals of the events unfolding in the poem.  Using small brushstrokes to capture each detail, Nivola's illustrations show the grim faces of the immigrants arriving in New York Harbor.  Her illustrations add a great deal of impact and allow the reader to imagine the time period through the clothing, home decor, and colors used throughout the pages.  Glaser's poetry is written in free verse with stanzas of varying lengths.

The story of the poet Emma Lazarus is particularly relevant in today's political climate.  In the line, "At the time, the Statue of Liberty/ had nothing to do with immigrants," one realizes that Lazarus's poem changed the way people would think of the statue.  Originally, the Statue of Liberty was not created to be a symbol to immigrants entering the United States, but "Because of Emma's poem/ the Statue of Liberty/ had become the mother of immigrants."  This story shows the power of words and how poetry changed the perception of an American symbol.  Now, lines from her poem are some of the most recognizable in American culture.  In the back of the book, Glaser includes an author's note explaining more factual information about the life of Emma Lazarus.  Also, the complete text of "The New Colossus" is printed for readers to see. Finally, the last page shows a photograph of the original poem written in Lazarus's hand.

Spotlight Poem

An except from Emma's Poem: The Voice of the Statue of Liberty
by Linda Glaser

And what if the statue
were a real live woman?
What might she think
when she saw immigrants
arriving hungry and in rags?
What might she feel?
And, Emma pondered,
what would the statue say
if she could actually speak?

Emma took up her pen
and began to write.

I like the way these lines allow students to envision Emma Lazarus's thinking process while she was writing "The New Colossus."  Through poetry, Lazarus was able to personify and create a voice for the Statue of Liberty.  In an elementary social studies class, I would use this poetry book to kickoff a unit of study on the American symbols.  Students would further their learning by researching the Statue of Liberty and other symbols of the United States.

Teachers and librarians can find an excellent discussion guide created by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt here.  In this guide, there is a useful writing exercise that asks students to create their own poem imagining that they are imagining the words that the Statue of Liberty would say.  In a language arts lesson, this writing activity could be fun for students.