2011 Sydney Taylor Honor Award for Younger Readers

Emma Lazarus, growing up in a wealthy Jewish American family in the late nineteenth century was deeply moved by the plight of immigrants from Eastern Europe. Asked, along with other writers of the time, to write a poem to raise money for a pedestal for the Statue of Liberty, she wrote a sonnet that would forever declare that the Statue of Liberty stands as a welcome to immigrants, and the United States is a country that cares about those who come to our shores. Vivid watercolor paintings accompany this history behind Lazarus’ famous poem.