Books like Lady Liberty's Holiday
By Jen Arena
In Lady Liberty's Holiday, the statue's neck hurts, her arms ache, and Moe the pigeon convinces her to just leave and see the country. Cape Cod, Kansas wheat fields, the Grand Canyon, all before she has to rush back for the Fourth of July. The books below are for kids who like their landmarks a little restless.
An action toy's beloved, bedraggled pet Scrubbing Brush is thrown out and replaced by the shiny battery-powered Turbodog, so Traction Man suits up to brave the trash bin and rescue his old friend.
Same rhyme-along bounce, but Rhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas lets one bunny wreck every rhyme on purpose, and that's the funny part.
Lady Liberty needed a nudge from a pigeon to get moving. In This Moose Belongs to Me by Oliver Jeffers, the moose just refuses to follow any rules at all.
Lady Liberty's cross-country jaunt turns into a string of near-disasters here. Fortunately by Remy Charlip swings between lucky and unlucky on every page.
Same rhyming bounce and big joyful ending, but Boris and Bella by Carolyn Crimi throws a monster dance party instead of a road trip.
A simple errand turns into a wandering, character-packed detour, much like Lady Liberty's own side trips. The Book About Moomin, Mymble and Little My by Tove Jansson keeps that meandering charm.
If your kid likes hunting the page for clues about where Lady Liberty will land next, The Eleventh Hour by Graeme Base turns that into an actual whodunit.
Lady Liberty covers one summer of roaming. Stalactite & Stalagmite: A Big Tale from a Little Cave by Drew Beckmeyer covers millions of years without either rock formation ever moving an inch.
As the farm animals bustle to get ready for the annual Corn Maze Festival, a sly duck skips the chores to hatch a scheme of his own inside Farmer Brown's corn maze.
Smaller world, same warm humor. Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin finds its jokes in ordinary school and family days instead of a road trip.
Same joyful, rhyming momentum as watching Lady Liberty explore, but Bats at the Ballgame by Brian Lies stays in one place: a ballpark full of upside-down fans.
A Squash and a Squeeze by Julia Donaldson keeps the rhyme and the farm-animal crowd but shrinks the whole trip down to one tiny, packed house.
