Washington D.C. From A-Z - Hardcover

Alan Schroeder is the author of acclaimed books such as Ragtime Tumpie, which was an ALA Notable Children's Book, a Booklist Children's Editors' Choice, and a Parents' Choice Award winner, and Minty, an ALA Notable Children's Book and a Time Magazine Best Children's Book of the Year. He lives in California.

John O'Brien is a cartoonist whose work appears in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other publications. He is the creator of many children's picture books and the illustrator of many more, including Red, White, Blue, and Uncle Who? by Teresa Bateman. He lives in New Jersey.

Gr 1–4—Short entries arranged alphabetically and accompanied by comical illustrations present snippets of information about the geography, architecture, and history of the U.S. capital. For example, the letter "C" includes information on the Capitol building, the famous cherry trees, the compromise of 1790, the Washington Cathedral, and Arlington National Cemetery, and features an inset quote from Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm. The colorful pen-and-ink with watercolor illustrations add interest and amusing details to each page—the Library of Congress constructed out of books, the Capitol as a bathtub, the Mint made of money, and the National Archives as an overflowing attic. Witty, irreverent quotes and tidbits of information poke fun at politics, politicians, and other amusing historical aspects of the city. In the end, the author points to Washington and its symbols as fundamentally linked to the image of the United States and an ever-changing, important part of U.S. citizens. This book would not necessarily serve well as a major source for a research paper, but the details presented could very well spark interest in some aspect of the metropolis and lead to further investigation. VERDICT A entertaining look at the U.S. capital and a general addition to geography collections.—Theresa Muraski, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Library