Rushmore is the story of the carving of Mt. Rushmore, including the time and money that it took to make this carving come to life. The author focuses mainly on the artist, Gutzon Borglum and his arrogant, flashy ways as well as his talent.
This story could tie into a history lesson of the United States, it could be used to discuss pros and cons of the carving or could be the focus of a debate on whether Rushmore should have been carved. Students should also study the timeline at the back of the book to understand how timelines work and how they can be featured in non-fiction text. ( )

This book was very enjoyable. It had lots of information and lots of adjectives that not only described the great pictures in the book, but helped your imagination grow their own. The book told the story from beginning to end of Mt. Rushmore and its creator; from the creation of the mountain to the future the mountain holds. This would be a great book for children to use for a report on Mt. Rushmore. It has so much information packed in this book, it is unreal! ( )

Gutzon Borglum was born in Idaho by parents of Danish Immigrants. This is the story of how he came to be hired to create one of the largest monumental sculptures in the world. The techniques that he used incorporated a pointing device for measuring, as well as small charges of dynamite for roughing out the surface of each face. The book also teaches us about the lives of the miners who worked on the mountain, doing the dangerous and dirty work on the cliff face. Remarkably there were no deaths recorded during the entire construction period, though there were a number of close calls, and there were people who developed silicosis in old age. The project was never fully completed as Borglum had envisioned, as he died in 1941. His son made sure that the finishing touches were added to the four portraits with the last of the projects funds.

This book is about the whole process from the creation and of what all it took to get this historical monument created. The book goes over the planning, people responsible and things that were going on during the carving which took many, many, many years to complete.

I thought that the book was informational especially since I did not know that much about Mount Rushmore from the people that helped carve, design, and how the presidents were chosen. It took alot of time and money to complete the beautiful monument.

Have a count to see if and how many students have went to see Mount Rushmore. Students could draw a picture of the monument or use clay or play dough to make Mount Rushmore during art or center time. Read the book to the students on President's Day or on one of the presidents- Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln's birthday.