Kirkus Reviews QR Code
ROUND ABOUT THE CITY: Stories You Can Read to Yourself by Child Study Association

ROUND ABOUT THE CITY: Stories You Can Read to Yourself

By

Pub Date: Oct. 14th, 1966
Publisher: Crowell

Ten stories in all, and they offer the novice reader the rare pleasure of a choice. Organized loosely around the theme of city living, the collection deals more precisely with the simple activities and relationships of a social context (Alvin Tresselt's is the most urban) while some even deal with city escapes (a trip to the park in ""Saturday Surprise"" by Jean Fritz, a move to a house with a yard in ""How To Find a Friend"" by Sara Asheron, planting in ""A Tulip for Tony"" by Marietta Moskin). School occasions are described in Patricia Miles Martin's ""Show and Tell"" and Helen Copeland's ""Meet Miki Takino""; Carolyn Haywood's ""Betsy and Ellen Go to Market,"" has the grocery store routine; ""Olaf Reads,"" by Joan Lexau is about the importance of understanding signs; an unexpected occurrence in an apartment takes place in Elizabeth Guilfoile's ""Nobody Listens to Andrew;"" and Joan Savage's ""Hurray for Bobo"" deals with prejudiced cliques. None of these selections is notably humorous or fanciful, and the sense of social consciousness does take precedence over entertainment; however the stories are readable within the limited vocabulary framework and this is a solid collection for classroom use.