Pictures of America

“When you think of America, what images come to mind?” This panoptic catalog of timeless American symbols—from Uncle Sam to Coca-Cola—examines what makes particular landmarks, posters, and logos quintessentially American. Chapters organize symbols by four categories (patriotic, geographic, corporate, and official), and summarize the fascinating history behind each image. For example, in 1944, the Smokey Bear character wasn’t inspired by a real bear; but a bear cub rescued from a forest fire became a face of the Smokey Bear campaign in 1950. A photograph of each symbol is included, as are other related, captioned photos. “Freedom Fact!” text boxes feature interesting statistics. Front matter contains word count, vocabulary, and “Before & After Reading Activities.” Back matter consists of a time line, glossary, “Show What You Know” text-based questions, suggested Web sites, and an index.