The Flag Maker: A Story of the Star Spangled Banner. Illustrated by Clare A. Nivola. (Houghton 2004).
Book Description:
Several years ago, on a visit to the Smithsonian Institution, Susan Campbell Bartoletti saw the towering flag that has become known as the Star-Spangled Banner. Susan realized she knew about the history of the famous Battle of Baltimore that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the poem that became our national anthem. But she did not know whose hands had sewn such an immense flag. When she discovered that a thirteen-year-old girl, Caroline Pickersgill, had helped her mother to sew the flag, she knew she wanted to tell their story. Long interested in the work of children and women and their contributions to history, Susan researched and wrote The Flag Maker, a story about the flag that has become an important symbol of hope, pride, and courage for our nation.
From Booklist (Starred Review) Gr. 1-4. In this accomplished work of picture-book nonfiction, Bartoletti explores a hallowed event in U.S. history: the British attack of Fort McHenry in 1813 and the celebrated resilience of its garrison flag. She finds a fresh way into this oft-told story by focusing on 13-year-old Caroline Pickersgill, who assisted her mother in the creation of the fort's immense American flag, the very one that hangs in the Smithsonian today. . . The book's resonance owes as much to the delicate watercolors as to Bartoletti's controlled storytelling; Nivola's tidy, tranquil interiors serve as a ringing counterpoint to the chaos in the background. Bibliographic sources and "Flag Facts," including an acknowledgment that "some historians question whether the garrison flag or a smaller storm flag" flew during the battle, demonstrate the attention to detail that earned Bartoletti the 2002 Sibert Medal for Black Potatoes.
Awards
Notable Children's Book in the Field of Social Studies