Our Flag Was Still There
The True Story of Mary Pickersgill and the Star-Spangled Banner
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
A Bank Street Best Book of the Year
“So much to like about this, including the folk art–style artwork with childlike appeal, the emphasis on the women who constructed the flag, and the important ways a symbol can influence a country for generations.” —Booklist (starred review)
From beloved author-illustrator Jessie Hartland comes a whimsical nonfiction picture book that tells the story of the American flag that inspired the poem and our national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
If you go to the Smithsonian in Washington, DC, you can see a massive American flag: thirty feet tall and forty-two feet long. That’s huge! But how did it get there? And where did it come from? Well…
The story of this giant flag begins in 1812 and stars a major on the eve of battle, a seamstress and her mighty helpers, and a poet named Francis Scott Key. This isn’t just the story of one flag. It’s the story of “The Star Spangled-Banner,” a poem that became our national anthem, too.
Dynamically told and stunningly illustrated, Jessie Hartland brings this fascinating and true story to life.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The huge American flag that flew over Baltimore's Fort McHenry and inspired The Star-Spangled Banner and is now displayed in the Smithsonian was hand-stitched in just six weeks by an indomitable female entrepreneur. Mary Pickersgill owned the shop "operated entirely by women," Hartland notes, including an unnamed African-American indentured servant (an author's note offers additional detail). Charged with creating a flag "so large that the British will have no difficulty seeing it from a distance," Pickersgill and her crew work day and night. "Each tiny stitch was a small step toward a big flag and freedom from British rule." The British bombard but retreat, the flag remains flying, and the rest is literally history. With naif-styled scenes rendered in plenty of patriotic red gouache, it's a jovial popular history, but one with an unmistakable respect for its subject matter. And Mary herself is an exemplar of unflappable girl power, looking up from her stitching and giving the reader a jaunty wink. "Yes, we can!" she says. Ages 4 8.
