Ellis Island (Cornerstones of Freedom: Third Series)

This is a great book to begin a discussion of the history of immigration to New York. It is wonderfully written with great vocabulary words to challenge young readers.

Ellis Island is the lovely building sited in the harbor through which 12 million immigrants gave birth to their dreams of liberty.Passing through Ellis Island was bewildering and frightening and rough, and on the other side lay hard work, language barriers, adventure, freedom, and hope.Hope.This book shows that so clearly -- on the faces and in the photographs of masses of people jammed onto boats, all with the same hope. A better life.Pair this book with Shaun Tan's amazing graphic novel "The Arrival".  The Arrival The book does a good job showing the reasons for European emigration, discussing the quotas by nationality that were imposed, some of the screenings that went on, some of the controversies surrounding immigration, and highlighting famous Americans who came through Ellis Island.Great book.I don't like the colorized black-and-white illustrations, but this book used them only sparingly -- most of the photographs were B&W.