What a pleasure for families traveling abroad, art teachers introducing Parisian culture or students researching for a school assignment.  My First Book of Paris is a sight to see, the illustrations are fantastic in their detail offering a view of individual cultural neighborhood locations, historic places and people, as well as French foods.  This book brings to mind the Richard Scary books of my children’s childhood years where many illustrations and few words offered entertaining for hours.  Using lots of white space, color, and a variety of characters Arrhenius offers children a view of one of the world’s most beautiful cities.  Any reader will find parts of the city which enchant them and may well influence a trip to Paris in the future.

Many K – grade 3 students will be delighted to find this book available in their school media center.  Art teachers of any grade level will find it useful for teaching drawing structures, shading, and depth perception.  Public librarians should consider adding this to their non-fiction picture book collection.  Families with French heritage or those planning a trip to France will benefit from the purchase of My First Book of Paris.

Submitted by Jan Hamilton, retired youth services librarian in Scarborough, ME.