God Bless America

by Irving Berlin

A charming picture book of the classic song by America's most celebrated composer joins an adventurous bear family on their travels across America as they experience all of her colorful glory, from the mountains to the prairies, to the many faces of her inhabitants. 75,000 first printing.

Genres: Picture Books, American, Childrens, Summer

30 pages, Board Book

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Irving Berlin (born Israel Isidore Beilin (May 11, 1888– September 22, 1989) was a Russian-born American composer and songwriter. and one of the most prolific American songwriters in history.

Berlin was one of the few Tin Pan Alley/Broadway songwriters who wrote both lyrics and music for his songs.
Although he never learned to read music beyond a rudimentary level, with the help of various uncredited musical assistants or collaborators, he eventually composed over 3,000 songs, many of which (e.g. "God Bless America", "White Christmas", "Anything You Can Do", "There's No Business Like Show Business") left an indelible mark on American music and culture. He composed seventeen film scores and twenty-one Broadway scores.

Reviews

[Kaitlyn Day]

Summary: This book is a great multi-cultural book about how the song “God Bless America” was made. It tells the heart-warming story about the man who made the song. It gives several facts about how the guy was actually from Russia and was an immigrant to America.

Evaluation: I think this book was truly heart-warming and told the life story of an immigrant. The pictures in the book were colorful and beautiful and really portrayed the story line well.

Teaching: I would use this to teach a social studies lesson about America and immigrants, especially if I had immigrants in my classroom. It would be a great way for the students to connect to immigrants while also learning an important part of America’s history.

[April Palmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love when my Dad sings this book to me. I do NOT like it when my mom sings this book.

[Tamsyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has the words of Irving Berlin's classic song with cute pictures of a bear family that learn about patriotism and the beautiful country we live in. I think it's really cute.

[Cassandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book at a discount store for .50 cents. What a great find, it teaches Irving Berlin's God Bless America and the book is accompanied by a cd to teach children how to sing it as well.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a fantastic book. Would be good to teach kindergarten the song and what the song is talking about.

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so fun to read and sing to kids. My 2 year old daughter loved it and could sing it right on key. It was a fun way to learn the song by looking at the pictures.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

God Bless America [With CD]
Berlin, Irving

a great rendition of th patriotic story

[Corey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple illustrations - not easy to sing along to for a music class as you have to turn the pages so quickly.