One Proud Penny
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Who knew the life of a penny could be so exciting?
Born in 1983, our copper (well, zinc and copper as we find out) narrator travels everywhere from New York City to Portland, Oregon, to Puerto Rico describing in colorful detail his many adventures along the way.
Randy Siegel's quirky, informative text mixed with Serge Bloch's spare but exuberant illustrations (which make use of real pennies) make this book a must-have for lovers of American history or just a good story.
A Neal Porter Book
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Though this story from the duo behind My Snake Blake includes factual information about where pennies are made (Philadelphia, mostly) and what they're made from (zinc, mostly), this is also a story about an object that people don't pay much attention to. "I've been sucked up and stuck in a vacuum cleaner more times than I can count," says Siegel's narrating penny. "I once spent a year in a sewer drain on the side of a busy street." Bloch builds his drawings around an image of an actual 1983 penny, embellishing it with impishly scrawled ink lines. One spread shows the penny's peregrinations around the United States as it falls into the possession of a bear in the Rockies and sports a 10-gallon hat in Texas. Eventually, it comes to rest in a jar of pennies on a kitchen table. "I try to be the best penny I can," it says resolutely. It's the story of an unlikely hero, happy with its somewhat lowly lot and enjoying adventure wherever it's found. Siegel does a sterling job of conjuring up an emotional life for this ubiquitous coin. Ages 4 8.
