Capital!: Washington D.C. from A to Z - Softcover

Melmed, Laura Krauss

Softcover

ISBN 10: 006113614X ISBN 13: 9780061136146

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2006

Synopsis

Welcome to our nation's Capital!

Take a guided tour through Washington, D.C.—home of American government, world-renowned museums, and famous memorials and monuments.

Visit Apollo 11, find out how Bills are printed, and see where Congress meets.

It's all right here, from A to Z!

About this title

About the Author:

Laura Krauss Melmed is author of Capital! Washington D.C. from A to Z and New York, New York! The Big Apple from A to Z, also illustrated by Frané Lessac; I Love You As Much . . . , illustrated by Henri Sorensen; and the critically acclaimed The Rainbabies, illustrated by Jim LaMarche. She lives with her husband in Washington, D.C.

Frané Lessac is an American who has traveled all over the world. She now lives in Fremantle, Australia, but always looks forward to visiting Texas with her family. To bring the Lone Star State to life with gouache paints, Frané did extensive research using a video camera, a still camera, and actual and virtual tours. She is the illustrator of more than thirty books for children, including Capital! Washington D.C. from A to Z and New York, New York! The Big Apple from A to Z, both by Laura Krauss Melmed.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 3-5-A guide to Washington, DC, driven mostly successfully by the alphabet, with bright, folkloric illustrations that are reminiscent of Grandma Moses's work, and with enough detail to keep an incipient young tourist busy on a several-hour journey to the city. The letters are mostly presented on spreads, from A, Air and Space Museum, through X-Y-Z, National Zoo (a bit of a stretch, but these are always tough letters in abecedaries). Each spread offers not only the main illustrations, but also sidebars, cameos, and spots that extend the text. An interesting and timely juxtaposition in today's political climate is the H, the Holocaust Memorial Museum, with the I, the Islamic Center. Each spread has a jingly four-line verse. "G", for Gallaudet University, reads, "In eighteen hundred sixty-four,/President Lincoln signed a law/Providing higher education/For the nonhearing population." "A symphony, cool jazz, ballet,/An opera, or a children's play-/A feast for every taste and age/Awaits you here. Just pick a stage!" describes the Kennedy Center; and, slightly uncomfortably, the verse for the FBI reads, "Who searches for the Ten Most Wanted/And faces terrorists, undaunted?" While these introductions don't contribute much, the accompanying captions for the art offer dates, trivia, and engrossing historical tidbits. Couple this title with Lynn Curlee's Capital (Atheneum, 2003) for a lively, in-depth study of the District.
Dona Ratterree, New York City Public Schools
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 006113614X
• ISBN 13: 9780061136146
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 48
• Illustrator: Lessac Frane