ADÈLE & SIMON IN AMERICA
Farrar, Straus, and Giroux 2008
Written and illustrated by Barbara McClintock
Adele and her younger brother, Simon, have just arrived in New York City to visit their Aunt Cecile and prepare for a grand train trip around America. “Please try not to lose anything on our trip,” Adele tells her brother with a sigh. But how can Simon remember to keep an eye on his belongings when there are so many wonderful distractions and astounding sights to take in? The endearing team from ADELE & SIMON returns in a cross continental adventure that reflects the vitality of early twentieth-century America, from the Boston Public Garden, to a farm in Cooperstown, North Dakota, to San Francisco's Chinatown. Stunning pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations are filled with innumerable hidden treasures, and endpapers featuring a period train line map of America extend the fun. (Ages 4 - 8) Corresponds with 5th grade US history curriculum. Teachers' website at www.adeleandsimon.com
*A Publishers' Weekly Best Children's Books of the Year
*Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year
*Starred reviews in Booklist, Horn Book, Kirkus, Publishers
Weekly, School
Library Journal, and the San Francisco Chronicle
“The young Parisian siblings from McClintock's well-loved ADELE & SIMON embark on a second highly successful adventure...Sepia colored endpapers trace their cross-country route on an old railway map, creating an early-20th century setting, and the artist's characteristic ink-and-watercolor work depicts each of 12 destinations in impeccable period detail.” — Starred, Publishers Weekly
“McClintock's travelogue unfolds with...uncommon affability...Kids will have fun poring over lovely tableaus to look for what Simon has lost...Kids can also look for famous people, some familiar and some not. (Mark Twain is boarding a Mississippi steamboat, and Teddy Roosevelt is strolling near the Capitol.)...ADELE AND SIMON IN AMERICA is full of adventure and affection. But it is not only about people. It is also about place. As the title suggests, there are three stars- a sister, a brother, and a nation.” — The San Francisco Chronicle
“This is a feast for the eyes and a wonderful way to incorporate geographic information into a child's frame of knowledge.” — Starred, School Library Journal
“The absorbing artwork will sustain many viewings, perhaps even enough for eagle-eyed readers to spot Simon's (tiny) lost objects in the spreads.” — Starred, Booklist
“The broad, very finely drawn American scenes reward close study; not only are the small tourists and their lost items there to be picked out, but each spread is stocked with bustling figures and business, along with accurately rendered architectural and historical detail... The elegant visuals provide plenty of eye candy.” — Starred, Kirkus Reviews
“Once again, the carefully researched illustrations are invitingly detailed and touched with humor, while a historical endpaper map recapitulates the journey.” — Starred, Horn Book
“A gem...highly recommended along with the original.” — Booklinks
“The book's old fashioned appeal comes in large part from McClintock's gentle pen-and-watercolor art. The deceptively simple scenes open up the more readers study them; her illustrations are meticulously researched and supplemented with endnotes explaining the choices in each picture.” — Newsday