Synopsis
Illustrations present noted sights in London as seen from the outside and inside, such as the British Museum, Houses of Parliament, Tower of London, Waterloo Station, and St. Paul's Cathedral. Includes a section of text in the back of the book providing information on each sight.Captioned illustrations depict noted sights in London, including the British Museum, Houses of Parliament, Tower of London, Waterloo Station, St. Paul's Cathedral, and others
Reviews
Grade 2-4-- Munro features some of London's most famous sites: Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, the British Museum, the Houses of Parliament, the Tower Bridge, et al. Most locales are accorded two views, each in interesting perspective painted in watercolor, the details sharply edged in black in Munro's crisply familiar style. In this book Munro moves away from strict adherence to her "inside-outside" format, offering, as she did in her title on Washington D. C., a variety of viewpoints. The result is mildly uneven. Her outside vista of the British Museum seems to have been drawn from an upper floor of a nearby building and divorces it from the neighborhood in which it exists; the inside view is an unrevealing glimpse of the Egyptian mummy exhibit which seems crowded and uncomfortably placed on its double-page spread. The Buckingham Palace pages concentrate on two royal pageants: the changing of the guard, shown in a truncated view of the palace's east front; and the opening of Parliament, which is portrayed with a scene of a large crowd (back view) facing a coach passing in front of a generically official building. Much better is her witty take on the Victoria and Albert Museum, with visitors entering wearing modern day punk costume and the interior featuring an exhibit of costume from other eras. Her three-page section on the Tower of London is particulary fine, displaying its exterior, an interior as seen through a metal visor, and the wearers of such visors--models in a display of armor. As always, the final page includes basic information on the location, history, and facts of the sites depicted. The book displays a high level of craftmanship and careful research, offering a uniquely personal yet informative view of the city's treasures. --Christine Behrmann, New York Public Library
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Chalk up another triumph for New Yorker cover artist Munro. The latest addition to her Inside-Outside series whisks readers to London, and what a feast for the eye that great city proves to be. Munro's choice of subject is, as always, highly original. Some of the biggies are pictured--Buckingham Palace, St. Paul's Cathedral, the Houses of Parliament--but her inclusion of an umbrella shop on New Oxford Street, for example, is inspired, giving readers just as much of the flavor of London as do any of the architectural monuments. Her perspectives, too, are refreshingly different, even daring: readers will find themselves looking out at Regent Street from atop a double-decker bus, standing behind the cast of Les Miserables gazing out into the audience, and peering at a boy in the Tower of London from inside a suit of armor. A thoroughly intriguing work. All ages.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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