A picnic in October /

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Tony thinks it's dumb to have a picnic in October every year. He thinks it's dumb to go all the way to Liberty Island for a birthday, too. It's too far. And it's too cold. And it's just plain embarrassing. But that's what he thinks before he helps the lady who can't speak English--and before he begins to understand what the Statue of Liberty means to Grandma.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

A contemporary Italian-American family living in New York City makes its annual pilgrimage to Liberty Island to celebrate the birthday of the Statue of Liberty in what PW called a "poignant picture book." Ages 6-9. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

School Library Journal Review

Gr 1-3-Every year on October 28th, Tony's extended family packs a picnic, lawn chairs, blankets, and a birthday cake, and heads to the Statue of Liberty to celebrate Lady Liberty's "birthday." Despite Tony's annual embarrassment, Grandma's need to express her emotions over her long-ago acceptance by her chosen country is paramount, and the family respects that. This year, a chance encounter with a family of new emigres opens Tony's eyes to just what the statue symbolizes, and he joins openly in the final toast, proud and unashamed. Carpenter's colorful acrylics are realistic but soft edged, conveying in their slightly blurred edges the feeling of a chilly, blustery day in New York Harbor, seen through eyes moist with tears (brought on by the wind, the emotions, or both). Bunting warmly captures the lasting emotional impact that the first sighting of the statue can have on hopeful new arrivals. (One slight slip-the text calls the statue "white"-but the illustrations show Liberty in her coppery-green patina.) An excellent choice for an October 28th read-aloud (along with Emma Lazarus's poem), and for a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday to You."-Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

Ages 5^-8. It's October 28, Grandma's birthday, and no time for a picnic. Nevertheless, that's how Grandma wants to spend the day. And she wants the picnic at the same place she always has it, Ellis Island, so she can recall how it felt to see the Statue of Liberty for the first time. A story that could have been sappy gets its edge from Tony, the young narrator. He thinks it's dumb to picnic when it's chilly, gets embarrassed when his grandpa calls Grandma "beautiful," and squirms when his family toasts the "Lady with the Lamp." But he is also touched by an immigrant family making their first pilgrimage to see the Statue of Liberty, and their fresh enthusiasm and love of country link him with his own family's journey to America. The talented Bunting makes this into a real story with characters that ring true. Carpenter's art, vibrant with sea and sky blues, has the same realistic feel: the characters look as though they might turn and talk to the audience. A story that could be read by families as well as in school. --Ilene Cooper

Horn Book Review

Young narrator Tony laments his Italian-American family's annual fall excursion to the Statue of Liberty: he's cold, their picnic is heavy (it includes Lady Liberty's birthday cake), and his grandparents get soppy. But pride overrides embarrassment after he encounters three recent immigrants who lift his grandparents' story from abstraction. Accomplished acrylic paintings illustrate the somewhat sentimental story. From HORN BOOK Spring 2000, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Book Review

Bunting (I Have an Olive Tree, p. 719, etc.) once again explores larger themes through a quiet family story. Every October, on Lady Liberty's birthday, Tony and his extended family have a picnic on Liberty Island. The family rendezvous at Battery Park to take the ferry out to the island. Waiting in line, Tony, who thinks the picnic is pretty corny, is approached by a woman, obviously a new immigrant. She gestures her alarm when the ferry departs without her; she is soothed when Tony motions that the ferry will return. Once on the island, Tony's family has the picnic before toasting the statue and blowing kisses to her. Later, Tony spies the woman he had helped earlier, and the way they look up at the statue, ``so still, so respectful, so . . . so peaceful, makes me choke up.'' This sense of refuge drifts through Bunting's text, as fundamental and natural an element of life as are the everyday incidentals she braids into the story and all of which are exquisitely caught by Carpenter's vivid illustrations. (Picture book. 5-10)

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Eve Bunting was born in 1928 in Maghera, Ireland, as Anne Evelyn Bunting. She graduated from Northern Ireland's Methodist College in Belfast in 1945 and then studied at Belfast's Queen's College. She emigrated with her family in 1958 to California, and became a naturalized citizen in 1969.

That same year, she began her writing career, and in 1972, her first book, "The Two Giants" was published. In 1976, "One More Flight" won the Golden Kite Medal, and in 1978, "Ghost of Summer" won the Southern California's Council on Literature for Children and Young People's Award for fiction. "Smokey Night" won the American Library Association's Randolph Caldecott Medal in 1995 and "Winter's Coming" was voted one of the 10 Best Books of 1977 by the New York Times.

Bunting is involved in many writer's organizations such as P.E.N., The Authors Guild, the California Writer's Guild and the Society of Children's Book Writers. She has published stories in both Cricket, and Jack and Jill Magazines, and has written over 150 books in various genres such as children's books, contemporary, historic and realistic fiction, poetry, nonfiction and humor.

(Bowker Author Biography)