City Atlas: Travel the World with 30 City Maps

Readers can get a rough sense of the geography of 30 world cities in loosely illustrated maps that feature icons representing key attractions, famous people, cultural and geographical characteristics, and landmarks. Brief captions accompany the images (“Meet the bears at Moscow Zoo”; “Celebrate Diwali, the autumnal Hindu festival of lights”), as if to suggest potential itineraries for globetrotting families. Introductory panels provide an overview of each city (“The environmentally-friendly city of Stockholm is the capital of Sweden and is spread over fourteen islands”), while also noting the nation it belongs to, language spoken, and population. Working in digital media, Haake brings a playful folk art aesthetic to the pages, but the book’s cultural imbalance—more than a dozen European cities are included, but Cape Town is the only African entry—is a decided drawback. Ages 8–12. (May)