A Walk in London

London has to be my favorite city. Every street you pass, there's just so much to see and do. Salvatore Rubbino, author/illustrator of the acclaimed picture book A Walk in New York, has completed a companion book, this one featuring the city where he resides. A mother and daughter alight from a double-decker bus just in time to hear Big Ben striking eleven. The pair explore the city, starting with a stroll through St. James's Park. They go past Buckingham Palace, visit Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden, and St. Paul's Cathedral. They tour the Bank of England and the Tower of London and finally take a ferry on the Thames back to where they started.

A Walk in London is jammed with interesting tidbits. Did you know:

Buckingham Palace has its own post office?
More planes fly over London than any other city in the world?
A whisper on one side of St. Paul's Cathedral's dome can be heard 105 feet away?

Rubbino's lively illustrations are equally impressive, filled as they are with detail upon detail. The spread showcasing St. James's Park focuses on tourists taking photos and feeding the water fowl in the lake, while in the background cricket players are at bat. A foldout of the Thames gives readers a panoramic view of the many buildings along both river banks. There's way too much info to absorb in one sitting, so, like the city itself, this book bears repeated visits.

A Walk in London
by Salvatore Rubbino
Candlewick Press, 40 pages
Published: 2011