Words of Welcome: How Emma Lazarus Gave Lady Liberty a Voice (A Picture Book Biography)

Elisa Boxer

May 2027 · Abrams

Ebook

Pages

Eligible

This book will become available on May 25, 2027. You will not be charged until it is released.

About this ebook

From an award-winning picture book team, Words of Welcome is the story of poet and advocate Emma Lazarus, who wrote the famous poem engraved on the Statue of Liberty, and how that statue became a symbol of hope, freedom, and opportunity

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free . . .”

Before her words were engraved on the bronze plaque at the base of the Statue of Liberty, Emma Lazarus was a talented yet underappreciated poet. She was a staunch advocate for the oppressed, especially immigrants and New York City’s newly arrived Jewish community.

Discrimination was rampant. Lazarus used her writing to fight for those being persecuted and eventually wrote her most famous poem of belonging, “The New Colossus” (1883), which welcomes immigrants to their new home in the United States. Every visitor to Ellis Island can still read her words today.

Written by Emmy Award–winning journalist and two-time Sydney Taylor Honor–winning author Elisa Boxer and illustrated by Selina Alko, a National Jewish Book Award winner, and Sydney Taylor Honor winner, this powerful picture book biography is the story of Emma Lazarus and how she gave Lady Liberty a voice, allowing her to be a beacon of hope for all people.

From an award-winning picture book team, Words of Welcome is the story of poet and advocate Emma Lazarus, who wrote the famous poem engraved on the Statue of Liberty, and how that statue became a symbol of hope, freedom, and opportunity “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning...

Discover more

About the author

Elisa Boxer is the author of the Sydney Taylor Honor Book Hidden Hope: How a Toy and a Hero Saved Lives During the Holocaust (illustrated by Amy June Bates) and Covered in Color: Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s Fabrics of Freedom (illustrated by Susanna Chapman). She is also an Emmy Award–winning journalist. Boxer lives with her family in Maine. Selina Alko mixes collaged papers and acrylic paint to make richly textured illustrations for children’s books. Her work has received much acclaim including a Sydney Taylor Honor Book, two Sydney Taylor Notable Books and an NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor. Originally from Vancouver, Canada, Alko lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Elisa Boxer is the author of the Sydney Taylor Honor Book Hidden Hope: How a Toy and a Hero Saved Lives During the Holocaust (illustrated by Amy June Bates) and Covered in Color: Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s Fabrics of Freedom (illustrated by Susanna Chapman). She is also an Emmy Award–winning jou...

Reading information

Smartphones and tablets

Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.

Laptops and computers

You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.

eReaders and other devices

To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.

Flag as inappropriate