Steven L. Layne

I'm a sucker for history of almost any kind, even children's books, if they are well-written. This one, "W Is for Windy City: A Chicago City" doesn't disappoint. The short poems for each letter of the alphabet range from cute and clever to a bit of a stretch, but they deffinately enhance the story of Chicago being told. In short, each letter of the alphabet is represented by at least one item in the city that begins with that letter: such as the "El" train system for "E", Lake Michigan and Lake Shore Drive for "L", "S" is represented by the famous Sculptures Chicago has, and the Brookfield and Lincoln Park Zoos represent the letter "Z". In addition to the drawings and the short poems, there are paragraphs of a goodly length talking about the items representing the letters. For example, on the "S = Sculpture" page, there is a paragraph about the unnamed Picasso sculpture in Daley Plaza, another with details on "The Flamingo" sculpture done by Alexander Calder and finally a paragraph about the Cloud Gate, AKA "The Bean".

I think that children of a variety of ages from 1st graders all the way up to 7th graders (the middle school grade where American History is typically first taught) would find this history of Chicago of interest and use. It is a well-written, well-researched and interesting book. For students who can handle books of greater depth and more scholarly research, this book could be used to wet their appetite or help them discover if this topic is one that they wish to investigate further, without intimidating them with hundreds of pages and a lack of pictures, on the contrary, "W Is for Windy City: A Chicago City" (and others of its ilk, there are tons of similar books on a multitude of themes as well as one for each of the 50 states) is full of colorful pictures and is very inviting.… (mere)

I'm a sucker for history of almost any kind, even children's books, if they are well-written. This one, "W Is for Windy City: A Chicago City" doesn't disappoint. The short poems for each letter of the alphabet range from cute and clever to a bit of a stretch, but they deffinately enhance the story of Chicago being told. In short, each letter of the alphabet is represented by at least one item in the city that begins with that letter: such as the "El" train system for "E", Lake Michigan and Lake Shore Drive for "L", "S" is represented by the famous Sculptures Chicago has, and the Brookfield and Lincoln Park Zoos represent the letter "Z". In addition to the drawings and the short poems, there are paragraphs of a goodly length talking about the items representing the letters. For example, on the "S = Sculpture" page, there is a paragraph about the unnamed Picasso sculpture in Daley Plaza, another with details on "The Flamingo" sculpture done by Alexander Calder and finally a paragraph about the Cloud Gate, AKA "The Bean".

I think that children of a variety of ages from 1st graders all the way up to 7th graders (the middle school grade where American History is typically first taught) would find this history of Chicago of interest and use. It is a well-written, well-researched and interesting book. For students who can handle books of greater depth and more scholarly research, this book could be used to wet their appetite or help them discover if this topic is one that they wish to investigate further, without intimidating them with hundreds of pages and a lack of pictures, on the contrary, "W Is for Windy City: A Chicago City" (and others of its ilk, there are tons of similar books on a multitude of themes as well as one for each of the 50 states) is full of colorful pictures and is very inviting.… (mere)

I'm a sucker for history of almost any kind, even children's books, if they are well-written. This one, "W Is for Windy City: A Chicago City" doesn't disappoint. The short poems for each letter of the alphabet range from cute and clever to a bit of a stretch, but they deffinately enhance the story of Chicago being told. In short, each letter of the alphabet is represented by at least one item in the city that begins with that letter: such as the "El" train system for "E", Lake Michigan and Lake Shore Drive for "L", "S" is represented by the famous Sculptures Chicago has, and the Brookfield and Lincoln Park Zoos represent the letter "Z". In addition to the drawings and the short poems, there are paragraphs of a goodly length talking about the items representing the letters. For example, on the "S = Sculpture" page, there is a paragraph about the unnamed Picasso sculpture in Daley Plaza, another with details on "The Flamingo" sculpture done by Alexander Calder and finally a paragraph about the Cloud Gate, AKA "The Bean".

I think that children of a variety of ages from 1st graders all the way up to 7th graders (the middle school grade where American History is typically first taught) would find this history of Chicago of interest and use. It is a well-written, well-researched and interesting book. For students who can handle books of greater depth and more scholarly research, this book could be used to wet their appetite or help them discover if this topic is one that they wish to investigate further, without intimidating them with hundreds of pages and a lack of pictures, on the contrary, "W Is for Windy City: A Chicago City" (and others of its ilk, there are tons of similar books on a multitude of themes as well as one for each of the 50 states) is full of colorful pictures and is very inviting.… (mere)