In The New World: A Family In Two Centuries

Posted on June 3, 2017 by gdano

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  1. In The New World: A Family In Two Centuries
  2. Author: Gerda Raidt
  3. Illustrator: Christa Holtel
  4. Publisher and Year: Charlesbridge Publishing, 2015
  5. Number of Pages: 37
  6. Genre: Nonfiction
  7. Gerda Raidt’s book, In The New World: A Family In Two CenturiesGrandpa Takes Me To The Moon, is the heartwarming story of a German-American man and his young children/wife grandson returning to the German homestead his great-great-grandparents left 150 years earlier, something the author claims to have to have done with her own family. The author does not overwork much about this story, but she does do it in a way that’s subtle yet potent enough to get wedged in the minds of children, showing how good communication from author to reader is so important in breaking down barriers in communication that might have otherwise existed due to this book being translated from its original German and overcoming that issue. So far as the picturebook codes are concerned, the primary code in this book is that of colors. Throughout the book, the vast fields and towns of Western Europe and the American Midwest (where the family is from in the US) are compared and contrasted, with bright colors throughout, showing that the situation is rosy throughout by the book’s estimation by the time the conclusion rolls around. The illustrator chose a lovely strategy of using many shades of watercolors for the European continent, and it is very poignant when contrasted with the dark, gloomy shades that are also an integral part of the book’s artwork. Finally, when it comes to special features, the only one that comes to mind is just a well-written summary of the family’s homesteads in Nebraska and Bavaria at the end, and a touching anecdote about the author’s great-uncle (from whose perspective the 19th-century portion of the book is written). The ideology of the book is that the author wants everybody to be able to connect with their heritage, while still fitting in with their fellow citizens of the country in which they currently reside. Raidt shows us this ideology by providing a safe, fun way to teach about tolerance and diversity through a family’s search for the American Dream, and how the true story did just that.
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