Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this excerpt, free of charge,from The Quarto Group, for blog posting purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it all opinions are my own.
Last month I told you about this great new illustrated book, and shared the NOLA pages with you, and today I'm sharing my full review, after getting to check out the whole book!
50 Cities of the U.S.A.
Explore America's cities with 50 fact-filled maps
From the team that brought you The 50 States comes 50 Cities of the USA.
Explore skycraper streets, museum miles, local food trucks and city parks from Anchorage to Washington D.C., and discover more than 2,000 facts that celebrate the people, culture, and diversity that have helped make America what it is today.
Cities include Anchorage • Atlanta • Austin • Baltimore • Birmingham • Boise • Boston • Burlington • Charleston Charlotte • Cheyenne • Chicago • Cleveland • Columbus • Denver • Detroit • Hartford • Honolulu • Houston Indianapolis • Jacksonville • Kansas City • Las Vegas • Little Rock • Los Angeles • Louisville • Memphis Miami • Milwaukee • Minneapolis-St. Paul Nashville • New Orleans • New York • Newark • Newport • Oklahoma City • Philadelphia • Phoenix • Pittsburgh • Portland, MA • Portland, OR • Rapid City • Salt Lake City • San Francisco • Santa Fe • Seattle • St. Louis • Tucson • Virginia Beach • Washington, D.C.
Review:
Let's go back over some of the highlights for each of the 50 double spread pages:
Each double spread has adorable illustrations, showcasing special places, like The Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, the Frank Lloyd Wright Museum in Chicago or the St Louis Cathedral in NOLA. The places can be modern, historical, or just flat out interesting. They really provide you with a great idea for what to do in each city, if you are considering traveling there. And there is more help on that idea too:
Each city has a 'A Day in..." section, where they showcase how to spend 24 hours in that city. I would consider them more like 48 hours though, as I know the NOLA would be insanely chaotic to do in 24 hours, but quite doable in 48! There is also a section with info about the city itself- including it's population, area, how it was named/who maned after, and bragging rites (see previous photo). There is also a small 'welcome' section.
Additionally you get little 'snapshots' of famous people from the city. In looking through the book, I'd say 1 out of 6 is historical, the others are modern entertainers. While not a made thing to know Matt Damon's or Serena William's birthplaces, I'm sure the effort could have been made to find more historical names like Alexander Graham Bell and WEB Dubois. But I understand they're trying to grab kid's attention, and that seems to be the only way to do so anymore, for the vast amount of kids. Though I have to say I was glad Miss Grace looked up at me, and asked "How come there aren't photos of all the famous leaders, like generals and presidents?" As a parent and teacher, I was glad she saw that the history of a city is just as important as what is on social media!
We had a fun time going through all the cities we have visited in the past year and figuring out hat we had seen, been to, or looked at. It also made placed she hadn't considered visiting, much more appealing! It's a fun family book, and due to it's large size, a great Back to School coffee table book to help kids work on states, capitol cities and more!
About the Author:
Gabrielle Balkan comes from a family of book-loving teachers and is passionate about literacy, education, and good stories - just as her people taught her to be. She's made good on her degree in education by working in children's publishing and related education fields for some 15 years. Gabrielle grew up across from the Indiana State Fair and now lives in Brooklyn with her
writer-husband
About the Illustrator:
Sol Linero lives and works in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her clients include Scholastic, Oprah magazine, Jamie Oliver Magazine and Wired.
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