Elem. – Chicago, Baby!

Flores, Feather. Chicago, Baby! Illustrated by Kelly Leigh Miller. Chronicle Kids, 2022. Unpaged. $14.99 978-1-797-20719-3. Grades 1-3.

This series of books covering cities (New York, San Francisco, Washington, DC) seeks to highlight major attractions in a city, this time Chicago. A young biracial girl is setting out to see the sights with her parents. In rhyming text, they visit Lincoln Park Zoo, take in the beach and Air & Water show, walk (and ride) on Navy Pier, eat deep dish pizza, take a river cruise, shop the Magnificent Mile, visit Cloud Gate and the Art Institute, eat hot dogs in Grant Park, and finally, tour Adler Planetarium. Each line ends with an explanation point, and all diverse characters are both happy as well as happy to see the girl enjoying herself. Though a tourist would not realistically do all of this in one day, the book acts as a positive, colorful introduction to Chicago. Since the illustrations are bound to bring up questions (like what is that “shiny bean” at Cloud Gate? What can we ride at Navy Pier?), it would be nice if the book included notes or resources and a short description of each place or food.

THOUGHTS: A fun but light overview of the Windy City which could entice or encourage visitors. 

Picture Book          Melissa Scott, Shenango Area SD