You Wouldn't Want to Be a Worker on the Statue of Liberty: A Monument You'd Rather Not Build

You Would Want to Be a Worker on the Statue of Liberty: A Monument You’d Rather Not Build

Author: John Malam  

ISBN: 0531207005

Publisher: Scholastic Children’s Press, 2008

Age: 8 and up

Genre: Non-fiction

Summary: In 1871 Edouard de Laboulaye, a French politician, commissions Frederic Bartholdi, a French sculptor, to create a monument for the United States.  He wants it be large, and done before 1876 for their 100^th birthday.  After a long voyage and tour of the U.S. Bartholdi and his assistant head back to France to begin work.  He chooses copper because of its chemical compound (it doesn’t rust), and plans to attach the formed copper sheets to a large iron frame.  They plastered, then built wood frames from the plastered forms, and then formed the copper sheets.  The pieces were transported to the U.S. on ships and it was assembled there.  It was finished in October of 1886, 21 years after the idea began. 

Read A-likes: You Wouldn’t Want to Be a: Inca Mummy; Aristocrat in the French Revolution; Boston Tea Party; Mary, Queen of Scots; and Roman Soldier. (To name only a few)

Personal Thoughts: This book is part of a series for young children entitled “You Wouldn’t Want to Be”.  Though considered a bit young for a ‘tween’ these books are incredibly popular with the tween and even teen set.  Fun and engaging to read, they also impart quite a bit of information in an interesting manner.