My Little Cities

January 1, 2018
Tour around San Francisco in this most recent entry in the My Little Cities series; follow a young, brown-skinned child with a baseball cap and their adult as they visit iconic landmarks.Each double-page spread shows text on the recto and an illustration on the verso. The simple text consists of rhyming couplets portraying mainly opposites in the City by the Bay: "Travel high / travel low" show them at the Golden Gate Bridge and in the San Francisco Bay Ferry in front of Alcatraz Island, respectively, while "Stop to eat / and stop to play" show them eating ice cream with the sea lions at Pier 39 and then flying a kite at the Cliff House. Simple digital collage illustrations in bright colors show them all around the city at such top attractions as Lombard Street, the Painted Ladies, and the cable cars. The diversity of the city is well-represented by smiling people, round-headed with round noses and skin of various different shades of brown. The author embraces San Francisco as a "city of parades and protest," illustrating "Lights at night / flags in day" with the Chinese New Year parade and then a varied group of people with the letters LOVE and a rainbow flag in front of City Hall. On the final spread are brief details on the 10 landmarks featured, useful for all ages. The companion title Paris, with a similar format, features the same child and adult enjoying the City of Light.An appropriately bright and brief introduction, probably better for younger preschoolers than toddlers. (Board book. 3-5)

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March 27, 2017
Adams (the Baby Lit series) and Pizzoli (Dragon Was Terrible) offer a zippy tour of the Big Apple in this pitch-perfect board book that paints the city as a town of opposites. “Building high/ Building low/ Moving fast/ Moving slow” takes readers from the Empire State Building to the New York Public Library, from the subway to the Staten Island Ferry as it chugs its way past the Statue of Liberty. Bright colors, speckled textured, and smiley, round-headed citizens (and tourists) create a sense of friendly bustle on every page, and a useful closing spread fills in details about the 10 featured sites. Simultaneously available: My Little Cities: London. Ages 3–5. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House.