Journey Around

Next stop, Philadelphia! That's the call from author-illustrator Martha Day Zschock, who has taken children and their delighted parents on Journeys Around Boston, New York, San Francisco, Washington D.C., Chicago, Maine, Nantucket, and Cape Cod since starting this bestselling series in 1999. Zschock is not only a brilliant artist but also a committed educator, whose books are embraced by teachers and principals nationwide. These are far more than alphabet books. Each page is headed by an alliterative sentence that evokes an important theme. For example, Philadelphia's A page, featuring Benjamin Franklin, is headed Aphorisms and advice appear in the almanac. A playful factoid at the bottom of each page expands on the theme. (Did you know that the aphorism Haste makes waste is traceable to Poor Richard, i.e. Franklin?) In each city she visits, Zschock thoughtfully looks beyond the tourist attractions to the community residing there. For example, here the N page explains how Neighborhoods define urban nature. The O page describes how Old Order Amish obey the Ordnung, while the U page celebrates Philadelphia's stop on the Underground Railroad that helped enslaved African Americans escape the South before the Civil War. Now the second leading history destination in the U.S. (after Washington D.C.), Philadelphia is the perfect city for this thoughtful, beautiful series.