CITY

Another oversized picture book by Swedish artist Arrhenius (Main Street Magic, 2017; Animals, 2016) introduces very young children to the sights and colors of the city.

Flat, Lego-like figures of varying skin tones populate the European-inflected city scenes, which include a movie theater, bookstore, port, airport, art museum, construction site, bakery, zoo, pool, park, hospital, and school. Some figures reappear in different illustrations, prompting a seek-and-find game or even a rudimentary narrative. The only word on each page is the title of each scene or activity, which is engagingly integrated with the illustration, designed in a type to match the place or activity to which it refers. “MOVIE THEATER” appears on the marquee; each letter of “soccer” appears on a different ball being kicked around; “dogs” is composed of the leashes that connect the pets and their owners; the word “museum” becomes a tumbled sculpture of letters. Retro, stylish, and elegant in design, with plenty of detail to engage young kids, this big, bright tome will be a great tool for use in a preschool classroom or library reading circle. Two spreads at the end of the book, in the form of one-sided poster pages, provide a picture dictionary of the words illustrated in the book, labeled in clear caps.

Ideal for young listeners and beginning readers who are making their first word associations.