Review Detail

Kids Fiction 415
Toddlers on The Tube
Overall rating
 
3.5
Plot
 
3.0
Characters
 
3.0
Writing Style
 
3.0
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
 
5.0
This very brief board board is a nice introduction to London. Young readers are asked where the driver for the London Underground is, and there's a nice piece of red felt to lift upto find her. A Beefeater hides behind a castle shaped piece of blue felt, a cyclist behind a green, bush shaped piece, and the king appears in a yellow carriage. The last page asks where the reader is; a surprisingly good quality mirror reflects one's own face after a red felt house outline is lifted.
Good Points
The felt is attached to the pages very sturdily, and the cover and pages seem like they will hold up to a moderate amount of droop, since this book is clearly pitched to the very young. The colors are bright and engaging, and Arrhenius' illustrations have a bold and simple 1960s feel to them.

London is one of my favorite places in the world, and there are several identifiable landmarks like the Tower Bridge and the London Eye. I would have loved for this to be a little longer and have included things like Buckingham Palace or the Houses of Parliament, since those are fairly iconic as well.

There is a whole series of these books, including Where's the Queen and quite a lot of animal books. I haven't read a lot of board books lately, other than Sandra Boynton ones, but like the idea of introducing small people to different places in the world that they might one day experience. Add this to other Anglophilic titles like Sasek's this is London, Egan's Dodsworth in London, and Toht's All Aboard the London bus to round out the armchair travel experience.
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