Parks for the People
How Frederick Law Olmsted Designed America
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
National Book Award finalist Elizabeth Partridge reveals the life and work of Frederick Law Olmsted, the designer of Central Park, the United States Capitol building's landscape, and more.
Nobody could get Frederick Law Olmsted to sit still. He was filled with energy, adventure, and dreams of changing the world. As a boy, he found refuge in the peace and calm of nature, and later as an adult, he dreamed of designing and creating access to parks for a growing and changing America. When New York City held a contest for the best park design for what would become Central Park, Olmsted won and became the father of landscape architecture. He went on to design parks across America, including Yosemite National Park and even the grounds for the United States Capitol.
This scenic biography is lavishly illustrated by Becca Stadtlander, and National Book Award finalist Elizabeth Partridge brings her renowned lyricism and meticulous research to the visionary who brought parks to the people.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Partridge tells the story of Frederick Law Olmsted's (1822–1903) career as an ambitious, visionary park designer, from his unpromising years in school to his success as the designer of Central Park and public parks throughout the U.S. Along the way, injustices are acknowledged—the appropriation of largely African American Seneca Village to build Central Park, the burning of Ahwahneechee homes for Yosemite National Park—but the footnote-like mentions aren't drawn into relationship with privileged Olmsted's personal story or concerns, undercutting the story's claim that the figure "created common ground" for "everyone in New York City" and for "all of America." Graceful artwork by Stadtlander attends to historical detail and echoes the colors and sweep of period painters. An author's note concludes. Ages 4–8.
