by Kate Boehm Jerome
Arcadia Kids, $9.99, 48 pages
What city is nicknamed The Big Guava? (Tampa). Where can you find the Mud Pit Belly Flop Contest? (Atlanta). Kids will find these answers and more in Kate Boehm Jerome’s series about U.S. cities, Cool Stuff Every Kid Should Know (featuring Houston, Atlanta, Buffalo, Tampa, Cincinnati, and Charleston).
Kids will gobble up facts and trivia found in the sixteen pages of information about each city and thirty-two pages about the state. Beautiful photos will inspire a desire to take a family trip to see the included sites. Parents will appreciate that the series is both fun and educational. Teachers can use the books in the classroom, making history and geography come alive with the award winning Cool Stuff series. Students with school projects will find all they need to know in sections like “Sights and Sounds,” “Strange but True,” and “Dramatic Days.”
The books feature descriptions of popular museums unique to each city. A full-size carousel is on display at the New York State Museum. In Charleston, there is a museum that houses over one hundred thousand insects! The “Find Out More” section provides websites and phone numbers where families and teachers can find out more information about the cities and states.
Reviewed by Kathryn Franklin