America the Beautiful (Quarry Heritage Books) - Hardcover

Todd Ouren has been a professional artist for over 20 years. Todd has illustrated and designed numerous award-winning books and greeting cards. Raised near Fergus Falls, Minnesota, Todd now lives in Mankato, Minnesota with his wife and three boys. In our spare time we enjoy watching our kids play sports, traveling, hiking, kayaking and spending time at the lake. Todd Ouren is a published author and an illustrator of children's books.

A Wellesley professor's trip to Pikes Peak in 1893 inspired the now-famous verse extolling the American landscape; Waldman ( Light ; Bring Back the Deer ) writes that his own travels west instilled in him an awe of "beauty beyond the realm of imagination." Using Bates's verse as his text, Waldman paints scene after scene, matching every phrase to a specific locale (these are identified in a well-designed key at the end). He pays homage to the "spacious skies" (above the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee), the "purple mountain majesties" (the Grand Tetons) and the "fruited plains" (the Napa Valley). Impressively and imaginatively, he conveys his wonder at natural beauty by stylizing his art: he renders each vista in thick, impressionistic strokes from a predominantly violet palette, choosing his colors as if from a paradigmatic sunset. Beautiful indeed. All ages.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.