New York, New York!: The Big Apple from A to Z

by Laura Krauss Melmed, Frane Lessac (Illustrator)

Overview

From bestselling duo Laura Krauss Melmed and Frané Lessac comes an alphabetical picture book tour of one of the greatest cities in the world, New York!

Welcome to the Big Apple! This city has something to offer everyone, from A to Z. Come visit the American Museum of Natural History and see prehistoric animals, get a bird's-eye view of the Brooklyn Bridge, and check out Central Park.

Fascinating details about the many neighborhoods and historic places of New York City accompany Melmed's lively, informative verse, and Lessac's vibrant folk-art paintings capture the essence of this unique and rich place that was once called the melting pot of America.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780060548773
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	04/22/2008
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	48
Sales rank:	1,060,469
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.00(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Laura Krauss Melmed is author of Capital! Washington D.C. from A to Z and New York, New York! The Big Apple from A to Z, also illustrated by Frané Lessac; I Love You As Much . . . , illustrated by Henri Sorensen; and the critically acclaimed The Rainbabies, illustrated by Jim LaMarche. She lives with her husband in Washington, D.C.

Frané Lessac is an American who has traveled all over the world. She now lives in Fremantle, Australia, but always looks forward to visiting Texas with her family. To bring the Lone Star State to life with gouache paints, Frané did extensive research using a video camera, a still camera, and actual and virtual tours. She is the illustrator of more than thirty books for children, including Capital! Washington D.C. from A to Z and New York, New York! The Big Apple from A to Z, both by Laura Krauss Melmed.

Editorial Reviews

The team behind Capital! Washington D.C. from A to Z, now takes readers on a tour of (mostly) Manhattan in New York, New York! The Big Apple from A to Z by Laura Krauss Melmed, illus. by Fran Lessac. The book begins with "A" for the American Museum of Natural History and ends with the "Z" in the Bronx Zoo-okay, that and "Y" for Yankee Stadium hit on the boroughs (plus the Brooklyn Bridge and the Q train). Small inset captions offer fun facts, while the rhyming text points up the humor of city lore. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

PreS-Gr 2-Having already rendered Washington, D.C., to an alphabetic form in Capital! (HarperCollins, 2003), this creative team sifts its attention to the Big Apple. From the American Museum of Natural History to the Bronx Zoo, each letter is accompanied by a peppy eight-line poem as well as multiple sidebars, factoids, and tidbits about the sights described. Melmed brilliantly touches on all the major sights of NYC, only cheating a little when X represents the ever-present "TaXi." The book includes an abundance of brightly colored, folk-art-style illustrations, and an excellent map locates each place mentioned. This book is certain to be popular with families traveling to Gotham for the first time. Pair it with Martha Zschock's equally cosmopolitan, if less informative Journey around New York from A to Z (Commonwealth, 2002).-Elizabeth Bird, New York Public Library Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

From the American Museum of Natural History (A) to the Bronx Zoo (Z), an alphabetical exploration of places to visit and famous sites in the Big Apple. The folk-art paintings are bright and colorful but are accompanied by short, uninspired verse and factoids. The most successful letters or places to see are the double spreads. Yankee Stadium (Y) is filled with fans set against a starry night. Unfortunately, the author states that it seats 70,000-untrue since the 1970's renovation. The Plaza Hotel (P) stands majestic, but oddly for a children's book does not include Eloise in its list of famous visitors. The Brooklyn Bridge (B), The Metropolitan Museum of Art (M) and Times Square (T) get grand double spreads while the one for Harlem awkwardly conjoins a brownstone to the Apollo Theater and the Union Square Greenmarket (U) is disjointed next to the Washington Square Arch (V for Greenwich Village). While fun for browsing, especially when turning the book on end for the Empire State Building (E), young readers would be better advised to visit Robert Neubecker's Wow! City! (2004) for some real Big Apple excitement. (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews