Picture Book Exhibition, "This is Our Land," Set to Open Feb. 18
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Laura B. Weiss -- School Library Journal, 2/3/2006
Take a trip around the world by visiting "This Is Our Land: Discovering America and the World through Original Illustrations from Children's Books," an exhibit featuring 80 pieces of original illustrations depicting the great diversity of people, pastimes, and natural wonders in all 50 states and 20 countries worldwide.
The exhibit, organized by the Washington, D.C-based Meridian International Center, a nonprofit cultural exchange organization, and the Library of Congress's Center for the Book, will run from February 18 to April 30 at the Meridian Center. It will then travel to 10 states, including the Orlando Museum of Art, the Queens Borough Public Library, and the Rahr-West Art Museum in Manitowoc, WI.
Featuring Caldecott Medal winners and other honored illustrators, the exhibit hopes to promote literacy, knowledge of geography, and a desire to learn about the world through reading and travel.
"The underlying idea of the show is to link the sense of place people have in relation of their own home to a new awareness of the rest of the word," says Leonard Marcus, children's literature historian, critic, and the show’s co-curator. "Picture books are presented as the bridge between the near and the far."
