RUSHMORE

This history of the Mount Rushmore monument is laudatory to a fault, devoting a mere paragraph to the many people who considered (or still consider) the colossal sculpture a blot on the landscape, a man-made disfigurement of nature. Curlee (Into the Ice, 1998, etc.) emphasizes the sculpture’s patriotic aspects: Washington represents the founding of the nation, Jefferson its westward expansion, Lincoln its preservation, and Roosevelt—a controversial choice even at the time—conservation. The details on the physical process of construction, from pointing to blasting, honeycombing to bumping, make the procedures clear even without the finely wrought, realistic illustrations. Equally lifelike is the portrait of Gutzon Borglum, the autocratic artist commissioned for the work, who managed to offend just about everybody involved in the project. Perhaps the most insulted were the Native Americans; only passing reference is made to their belief that the area is sacred ground. Just as beautiful as Curlee’s previous works, this volume should be used in conjunction with other, more comprehensive texts. (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-10)