WHERE IS ROBIN? LOS ANGELES

A robin gets an insider’s view of Los Angeles in this travelogue and fifth installment of a picture book series.

Although Robin flies to Los Angeles, she doesn’t use her wings but arrives in LAX like most tourists. The amiable bird hits a major event and many of the most famous spots of the well-known city, both entertaining and educational, including the Tournament of Roses Parade, the Griffith Park Observatory, the Hollywood Bowl, Grauman’s Chinese Theater, and Rodeo Drive. But some lesser-known treasures are also included, such as the Third and Fairfax Farmers Market, along with places of natural beauty like the Pacific Palisades and Los Liones Canyon. Barone’s (Where Is Robin? USA, 2017, etc.) selection of locations is excellent. But while her rhyming couplets are clean, they often scan unevenly, making it hard to keep a consistent rhythm. Robin also has a lot of experiences only available to celebrities and fictional characters: she’s able to play in a Kings’ hockey game, conduct the Los Angeles Philharmonic, sing at the Hollywood Bowl, and perform jazz at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Debut illustrator Gozhansky does a masterful job of keeping her images consistent with the rest of the series, and her cartoonish depictions of Robin make the discrepancies in the bird’s size from spread to spread seem reasonable. The cast, both animal and human, is as appealingly diverse as the Los Angeles sites.

Geography students interested in learning about new locations—or wanting to celebrate places near home—should enjoy this clever look at LA.