The Legend of New Amsterdam

Rating:
Summary: A Bit of History, and A Bit of the Future
Review: This is the first Peter Spier book I saw, the first I bought, and will probably always be my favorite (even though I've started collecting his books just for his terrific illustrations). Having lived in New York City, this wonderful (and I believe true) tale of the early Dutch settlement is very pleasing and intriguing. His pen and watercolor illustrations (true in most of his books) are loose, energetic, imaginative, beautiful, and seem very real, as if he really lived at that time and experienced that place and culture. Plus, he does historic research to give his drawings accuracy, so you actually learn a lot about the people, time and place just through the visual parts of this book.

The story of "Crazy Annie" (probably really it was Aantje) is touching, and his final illustration makes this book one of the very few that give me goose-bumps. Annie heard voices and saw visions of hundreds of people in magnificent buildings, so of course the colonists thought she was crazy. Spiers creates a wonderful sense of drama with this deceptively simple story and his beautiful, evocative illustrations. This book makes me wonder if Annie still walks the streets today? A must-have, in my opinion!