An immensely moving picture-book chronicle of American history, as related by the long-lived Pearl, the eponymous heroine and narrator of Debby Atwell's tale. Born in 1862 in Maine, Pearl listened to her grandfather's stories of being carried by George Washington on his horse, on Inauguration Day in 1789. She witnessed the hard work of her family on their farm in Maine, and her mother's grief at losing four sons in the Civil War. Visiting her only surviving brother in Texas, seeing the agitation for women's suffrage, marrying and taking a honeymoon to Niagara Falls (a popular destination), traveling to North Carolina to see the Wright Brothers' first flight - Pearl led a full and happy life. World War I, the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, all these came and went, as did World War II, in which Pearl lost a grandson, and finally understood her own mother's grief, during that long-ago conflict between the states. The Civil Rights Movement sprange up, in Pearl's elder years, and finally, during her seventy-fifth wedding anniversary, America landed a man on the moon...

Informative, thought-provoking, educational and engrossing, Pearl offers a view of American history from the perspective of one individual: the eponymous narrator. It links national and international history to personal and family stories, showing how larger historical events and cultural changes are experienced on the ground, by ordinary people. With a deceptive simplicity, the narrative here often highlights the emotional significance of key moments in our past - the pain and loss of war, the hope engendered by new beginnings, the public euphoria accompanying great achievements - always carrying on to the next episode, the next challenge, just as people living that history had to do. There were moments, reading Pearl, that I found myself with a lump in my throat. When the narrator reflects, after losing her grandson, that she finally understood her mother's feelings, so many years before, it left me blinking away tears. Atwell's artwork, done in her signature folk-art style, is every bit as evocative and powerful as the text, somehow capturing each period or episode in single large canvas, while giving the sense of the passage of time. The third title I have read from Atwell, following upon her The Thanksgiving Door and River, this is a gem of a picture-book, one I cannot recommend highly enough. I am mystified that this author/artist isn't better known. ( )

A boy tells about all of the American history his family has witnessed- from his father watching the Inauguration Parade for George Washington, to his family’s participation in the Civil War, to inventions like electricity, telephones, plumbing, and the automobile, to World War I, the Great Depression, the first atomic bomb, establishment of the United Nations, and the Civil Rights Movement. Pearl takes the reader on a journey through American history, from 1789 through 1960.

As a student this book was a great way to learn a little bit about US history. I liked the illustrations very much, they added alot to the story.

As a teacher this is the perfect book to use in a history lesson. It is a fun book that will hold my students interest. ( )