The Story of the Statue of Liberty

The Story of the Statue of Liberty

How did a dinner-party idea in France become a 151-foot statue standing in New York Harbor? This nonfiction graphic novel tells the true story of the Statue of Liberty, from the first proposal through years of designing, fundraising, and construction to its unveiling in 1886.

The story begins with French scholar Édouard de Laboulaye, who proposed creating a monument celebrating liberty and the friendship between France and the United States. Sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi took up the enormous challenge, traveled to America looking for the right location, and eventually designed the statue around Libertas, the Roman goddess of freedom.

But dreaming up a gigantic statue was considerably easier than building—and paying for—one. Your child follows the project through design decisions, construction challenges, and fundraising efforts as an ambitious idea slowly becomes the monument we recognize today.

The graphic novel format makes all that history particularly accessible. Comic panels, illustrations, dialogue, and short sections of text move the story along quickly while giving your child faces, places, and events to connect with the facts. For a reluctant reader, that's a much friendlier invitation into history than several pages of uninterrupted prose.

And although the format feels like a comic book, this is nonfiction. In just 32 pages, your child gets an introduction to the people and events behind the Statue of Liberty, along with bibliographical references and an index for further research.

This isn't intended to be an exhaustive history of the Statue of Liberty. It's a quick, visual introduction that works particularly well alongside a study of American history, immigration, national symbols, or France and America's relationship—or simply for the child who has seen Lady Liberty and wondered how on earth she got there.