A Walk in London
written and illustrated by Salvatore Rubbino
2011 (Candlewick Press)
Source: Orange County Public Library
A young girl and her mother have just gotten off the double-decker bus and have arrived in central London for a day of sightseeing. They are our tour guides in A Walk in London. There isn't really much of a story here, just the two of them walking through London and showing the reader different sights in town and telling us about what they encounter. I think this is great because the main focus of the book is the city itself and Salvatore Rubbino does a wonderful job in showcasing the city and its history. As you turn each page of this picture book travelogue, you get engaging illustrations of London's cityscape and informative labels everywhere in addition to the narrative. Rubbino has also written A Walk in New York which would make for an interesting contrast if you had both books. This is a terrific book with many potential uses in a classroom.
Since it has a ton of information, I wouldn't use A Walk in London as a traditional read aloud where you would read it cover to cover, but instead combine pieces of it with something like Google Earth where students could see photographs and videos of the actual sites in London. Our kindergarteners and first graders would love this and it could be part of a Travel theme for a week where students could bring in pictures of places that they have visited. Another use for this book would be to share it with students as a starting point for creating a similar travelogue about their own town. Students (or whole class) could create a simple narrative and then fill in with illustrations and labels highlighting different landmarks in their town.
Common Core Connections:
Writing - Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
Reading - Informational Text (several standards)