Of Walden Pond
Henry David Thoreau, Frederic Tudor, and the Pond Between
-
- € 11,99
-
- € 11,99
Beschrijving uitgever
From the award-winning author of Before She Was Harriet comes another work of lyrical beauty, the story of Henry David Thoreau and businessman Frederic Tudor—and a changing world.
Thoreau and Tudor could not have been more different from each other. Yet both shared the bounties of Walden Pond and would change the course of history through their writings and innovations.
This study in opposites contrasts the austere philosopher with the consummate capitalist (whose innovations would change commercial ice harvesting and home refrigerators) to show how two seemingly conflicting American legacies could be built side by side.
Oddball/ tax dodger/ nature lover/ dreamer/ That’s what they called/ Thoreau.
Bankrupt/ disgrace/ good for nothing/ dreamer/ That’s what they called/ Tudor.
Celebrated author Lesa Cline-Ransome takes her magnificent talent for research and detail to plumb the depths of these two history-makers. The graceful text is paired with Ashley Benham-Yazdani’s period accurate watercolor and pencil artwork. In winter, readers see Tudor’s men sawing through the ice, the workhorses dragging the ice, and Thoreau observing it all; in spring, summer, and fall, the ice continues its journey across the globe with Thoreau and Tudor writing and reflecting in their respective diaries.
An Author’s Note, which explores how Thoreau’s writings influenced such figures as Martin Luther King Jr., Robert Frost, and Mohandas Gandhi, is included.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Employing free verse to illuminate a lesser-known aspect of history, Cline-Ransome contrasts two notable white men and "dreamers" of Walden Pond: Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862), there to write in his cabin, and Frederic Tudor (1783–1864), a businessman shipping the pond's winter ice to Calcutta. Yazdani's detailed watercolor and pencil illustrations depict the ice from extraction to destination, where Indian "workers carried blocks/ on their backs" to ice houses, in vast contrast to the tranquility of the pond's passing seasons as viewed by Thoreau. The artwork abounds with intriguing details, including the system used to stack the ice, and the "tanbark/ hay/ straw" used to insulate the load. An author's note expounds on the lives of both men, offering a sanitized view of Thoreau's actions but placing the ice harvest within the context of colonialism. A volume that invites readers to view Walden as "an inspiration for Thoreau/ a harvest for Tudor/ a bounty for both." Ages 6–9.
