This Is New York
Miroslav Sasek
 
From the late 1950s into the 70s, artist Sasek produced eighteen delightfully illustrated children’s guides to world-class cities. With his witty observations, they became beloved bestsellers. For this century’s readers, they’ve been reissued and are still irresistible. Take a trip to New York and see the sights (a page at the end will bring readers up to date). See the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty, but also policemen, street vendors, tiny alleys and, best of all, ethnic neighborhoods with groceries, restaurants, and shops. Try a bus or subway, or cross the Brooklyn Bridge to view Manhattan at night. Sasek evokes the bustle and hustle, the going up and down, the crowds, clanging fire trucks, and enterprising shoeshine boys. Visit Macy’s and the Guggenheim Museum--examine a Tyrannosaurus at the Museum of Natural History. Celebrate the city and Sasek on this retro trip that even includes some New York history!
2003, All Ages

Check it out from your library using the library catalog. Donate to an improved Sebastopol Regional Library here.

Recommended by: Barbara Talcroft
Barbara Talcroft reviews children’s books professionally for childrenslit.com and for Children’s Literature Comprehensive Database.  She has a Master’s degree in International Children’s Literature.  She also has many years’ experience as a teacher.  Barbara is one of the founders of LANTERN and its past chairperson.

​City Cat
Kate Banks
Illustrations by Lauren Castillo
 
Summertime is travel time. How about a tour of Europe with a family from Rome and an adventurous black cat who hitches a ride? Track the cat as she turns up in each alluring European city, going off on adventures of her own. Banks’s lilting text is easy to read, taking City Cat to Paris, London, Amsterdam, Munich, and Venice. Especially colorful is Barcelona where she leaps from a fruit and vegetable stand scattering tomatoes and potatoes, then climbs delicately up the ornate facade of Casa Batló. The family reacts amusingly as they keep glimpsing the cat--in Amsterdam, floating out to sea on a boat and in Venice, stalking pigeons in Saint Mark’s Square. Kids can trace their route on an endpaper map and have fun spotting the flags in each illustration. As they leave, City Cat’s curled up on the luggage, jumping out in Rome--home again! Where are you going now, City Cat?
2013, Ages 5 to 8

Check it out from your library using the library catalog. Donate to an improved Sebastopol Regional Library here.

Recommended by: Barbara Talcroft
Barbara Talcroft reviews children’s books professionally for childrenslit.com and for Children’s Literature Comprehensive Database.  She has a Master’s degree in International Children’s Literature.  She also has many years’ experience as a teacher.  Barbara is one of the founders of LANTERN and its past chairperson.