A review by cswirl1
This Land is Your Land by Woody Guthrie

4.0

This Land is Your Land the 10th Anniversary Edition is a beautifully illustrated book of the folksong by Woody Guthrie that we were all forced to learn in elementary school. It is a song about how we need to share the land that we have because it does not belong to anyone. It belongs to all of us and we need to take care of it. I remembered the basic lyrics from when I was young "This land is your land, this land is my land. From California, to the New York Islands. From the Red Wood Forest, to the Gulf Stream waters. This land was made for your and me.", but I had no idea there were more lyrics. I have always liked this song and I really enjoyed the book.

The book itself is very beautiful. The dust jacket and the hard cover are almost exactly the same with the red background and the little image on the front, except that the dust jacket has a gold border around it and the title and words on the dust jacket are gold. When you take the dust jacket off and look on the inside of it, there is a bigger painting of the tiny bordered image on the front of the dust jacket. This cover and dust jacket are different from other publications because it is the 10th anniversary edition.

The paintings in the book are also very beautiful. Kathy Jackobsen has given the book some truly beautiful images that portray the lyrics wonderfully. When the chorus of the song begins, there are many different images with quotes from songwriter Woody Guthrie. My favorite quote in these images is on the 10th opening of the book on the left hand page. It is in the bottom left corner and says "I don't want the kids to be grown ups. I want to see the grown-ups be kids." As a teacher, I think that this quote is great.

I think that it needs to be read to kids to show them that not one of us owns this land, but that it belongs to everyone.