Gorgeous x10000000 ( )

What a beautiful tribute to the national parks. Having visited many as a kid (Great Smoky Mountains, Yellowstone and Grand Teton, Redwoods) and having just visited another (Haleakala in Maui), I was reminded of just how much I love national parks. The nature. The awe-inspiring scenes.

The illustration techniques used are quite cool--pastel on black paper that he used as he hiked around the parks. What a way to do a book! ( )

The author/illustrator leans on his childhood experiences traveling with his father who worked for the National Park Service. The simple and poetic narrative celebrates the nature and beauty of various American national parks and in a refrain describes them as "home" for all who visit and enjoy the parks. An author's note acknowledges the complex history of the creation of the parks, which represents the "best and worst" of the country's history. A map shows the locations of all the National Parks. #decolonizetheoutdoors

Thanksgiving family read-aloud picture book binge.

Okayish pictures and nothing words.

I set the book aside for several days unfinished because of all the tiny text in the end matter. When I finally go to it today, this little section was immensely more interesting than the rest of the book, giving a little overview of how several of the national parks were formed at the expense of and with ongoing disagreements with the indigenous people who were displaced. I wish the picture book had been about this substantial material instead of being just another string of landscapes with vaguely inspiring words dripped over the top. ( )

Beautifully illustrated ode to the our National Parks, featuring 26 from Maine to Florida and from Alaska to Hawaii. Evan Turk carried a sketch book while exploring with his brother and father, a Park Service employee for 40 years, and used pastels on black paper, capturing scenery, wildlife or both. Turk's admiration for preservation of these sites is evident in his theme, but he does not shy away from some of the despicable acts of the Federal government in "appropriating" land from the local residents, in his afterword. ( )