The American Spirit

In time to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States Declaration of Independence (also known as the United States Semiquincentennial) comes a poetic and lushly illustrated book for kids celebrating the spirit of America.

With beloved poems from Robert Frost and Carl Sandburg to Emma Lazarus and Helen Hunt Jackson, The American Spirit is a moving celebration of the themes, history, and people that make the United States of America the majestic nation it is today. Fifty poems—from men and women of different cultures, backgrounds, and time periods—showcase America's rich history and culture from before its founding to today's modern times.

Each of the fifty entries includes a famous poem, a short essay on its patriotic themes, an activity or questions to further reader understanding, and selected vocabulary words, all of which work together to help kids understand both the poem and our country better.

Table of Contents

Part One—Exploration & Discovery

Part Two—Heroes & Legends

Part Three—Music & Art

Part Four—Work & Progress

Part Five—Freedom & Equality

Part Six—Resilience & Change

Excerpt:

On the Mississippi

by Hamlin Garland

Through wild and tangled forests

   The broad, unhasting river flows—

   Spotted with rain-drops, gray with night;

     Upon its curving breast there goes

A lonely steamboat’s larboard light,

       A blood-red star against the shadowy oaks;

Noiseless as a ghost, through greenish gleam

Of fire-flies, before the boat’s wild scream—

          A heron flaps away

          Like silence taking flight.

The River of Dreams

The Mississippi River has long symbolized exploration and connection, winding through America’s heartland and history. Hamlin Garland’s vivid imagery captures the river’s power and mystery, painting it as a bridge between past and future. This timeless waterway has carried stories of traders, settlers, and dreamers, embodying the spirit of discovery that flows through the nation’s veins.

Celebrate

Learn about the history of the Mississippi River and its role in shaping America. Find a map of the river and trace its path. Imagine what it might have been like to travel along its waters in the 1800s—what would you see, hear, and feel?

Define

unhasting: not rushing

starboard: left side of a ship