Rushmore

Horn Book Magazine

Lynn Curlee combines illustration and narrative in a passionate celebration of a truly remarkable artistic achievement: the monumental stone carvings of four presidents-Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt-on Mount Rushmore. The text is succinct but thorough, presenting information about the site, the choice of the four presidents to be immortalized, clear explanations of the engineering principles and artistic decisions involved, and biographical information about the sculptor, Gutzon Borglum (an irascible, domineering visionary with a talent to match his ambitions). Curlee acknowledges negative reactions to the undertaking even as he emphasizes its unique qualities and quintessentially American character. His illustrations, though realistic, are not merely copies of reality; rather, they are an exultant view into the nature of art and, yes, patriotism. With a time line and selective bibliography.

Hungry Mind Review

This book is as much about America's own historical challenges and shifting national character as it is about the carving of this impressive sculpture...

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Curlee (Into the Ice: The Story of Arctic Exploration) presents a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the making of Mount Rushmore. South Dakota's state historian first came up with the idea of carving figures into the Black Hills during the 1920s, a notion that was quickly taken up by one of the state's senators as a way to pay tribute to history and draw more tourists to his remote state. The original plan--to carve figures representing the Old West--was swept aside by the sculptor commissioned for the project, the egotistical but talented John Gutzon de la Mothe Borglum. Curlee's story of Borglum's 17-year involvement in the arduous project brims with details of the politics surrounding the monument--a grassroots campaign to include Susan B. Anthony rather than Theodore Roosevelt as the fourth dignitary featured; the uproar that ensued when Borglum attempted to change Calvin Coolidge's condensed history of the United States, which the sculptor originally planned to inscribe on the monument--as well as the logistics involved (each morning the crew had a 40-story climb to the precipice to begin work; by the job's completion, they had blasted 450,000 tons of rock). The stark, flat feel of the acrylic paintings in stony shades of gray and blue mirror the dignified aura of their subject. Exploiting each spread, Curlee conveys the sensitivity in the faces of the giant chiseled sculpture while simultaneously demonstrating a sense of scale, with the sculptor rappelling from the nose of Washington or a worker examining Roosevelt's cheek. If readers have not yet made the trip to the Black Hills, Curlee's account will likely spur them on to visit. Ages 7-10. (Apr.)

Children's Literature - Susan Hepler

Dense, straightforward text explains the history of the building of Mount Rushmore from the idea's inception in 1924 to its completion in 1941. The United States had turned its attention to the war effort and there would be no more money for work. Mt. Rushmore was supposed to include words written by Calvin Coolidge carved into the rock face but that, along with a museum and vault, never came to completion. An afterword mentions further controversy that surrounded the carving up of these mountains. Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln were undisputed first choices but the fourth started a debate: Susan B. Anthony for her campaign for women's equality? Woodrow Wilson for leading the country through World War I? But sculptor Gutzon Borglum and the then current South Dakota senator were fans of Theodore Roosevelt's conservation policies and he became the fourth head to be carved. While the book's design, with its picture book size and four double-page spreads of solid text doesn't invite young readers to warm to the subject, Curlee does an adequate job of telling the story for upper elementary and middle school students, especially those studying the United States. The stiff, blocky oil paintings work best when portraying the stonework and interest readers more in the monument than the people who created it. An index and timeline are included.

School Library Journal

Gr 2-5-A chronological description of the creation of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial, from its inception in the 1920s by a state historian in South Dakota to its completion in 1941. This attractive, oversized book features large, single- and double-page acrylic paintings. The artwork is simple and touching, providing some sense of scale and illustrating the progress of the monument. While the paintings never quite seem to capture the immensity of this undertaking, they do provide a sense of poetic achievement and national pride. The writing is factual, straightforward, and, for the most part, unexciting. While Curlee discusses sculptor Gutzon Borglum's life and involvement with the project, there is little vivid imagery of what it took to imagine and engineer its completion. The undertaking never quite comes to life. And some questions of interest remain unanswered, e.g., how were the eyes of each sculpture designed to follow the viewer? Overall, this is a visually appealing if uninspired offering.-Rosie Peasley, Empire Union School District, Modesto, CA

Hungry Mind Review

This book is as much about America's own historical challenges and shifting national character as it is about the carving of this impressive sculpture...

Kirkus Reviews

This history of the Mount Rushmore monument is laudatory to a fault, devoting a mere paragraph to the many people who considered (or still consider) the colossal sculpture a blot on the landscape, a man-made disfigurement of nature.