Twenty-one Steps: Guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by Jeff Gottesfeld

Twenty-one Steps: Guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Jeff Gottesfeld

Candlewick Press · Print & ebook · February 12, 2021

A Picture Books pick for readers exploring Twenty-one Steps: Guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

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Who it’s for
Precise ritual and luminous illustrations bring a solemn act of remembrance close.
Themes
Remembrance of fallen soldiers, Military service and sacrifice
Genres
Military & Wars, Death & Grief, Symbols & Monuments

About this book

With every step, the Tomb Guards pay homage to America’s fallen. Discover their story, and that of the unknown soldiers they honor, through resonant words and illustrations. Keeping vigil at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, in Arlington National Cemetery, are the sentinel guards, whose every step, every turn, honors and remembers America’s fallen. They protect fellow soldiers who have paid the ultimate sacrifice, making sure they are never alone.

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To stand there—with absolute precision, in every type of weather, at every moment of the day, one in a line uninterrupted since midnight July 2, 1937—is the ultimate privilege and the most difficult post to earn in the army. Everything these men and women do is in service to the Unknowns. Their standard is perfection. Exactly how the unnamed men came to be entombed at Arlington, and exactly how their fellow soldiers have come to keep vigil over them, is a sobering and powerful tale, told by Jeff Gottesfeld and luminously illustrated by Matt Tavares—a tale that honors the soldiers who honor the fallen.

A Vigil in Motion

Precise ritual and luminous illustrations bring a solemn act of remembrance close.

Come here for

  • The discipline and meaning behind each step at the Tomb
  • A visual tribute to those who guard the fallen

Expect

  • A sobering account told in resonant words and illustrations
  • Attention to service, remembrance, and standards of precision

Where it sits

Military & Wars90%
Symbols & Monuments62%
Death & Grief42%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Military & Wars
  • Symbols & Monuments
  • Patriotic Holidays
Authors
Jeff Gottesfeld
Publisher
Candlewick Press
Published
February 12, 2021
Format
Print & ebook
Theme
Remembrance of fallen soldiers · Military service and sacrifice
Reading lane
Military & Wars