Wow! City! by Robert Neubecker, Robert Neubecker (Illustrator)

From the Publisher

Everyone dreams of visiting the big city, with its bright lights, tall buildings, and millions and millions of people. One lucky girl named Izzy climbs in her stroller and rides through all the hustle and bustle, impressed by the sheer magnitude of everything she sees. Wow! City! is based on Izzy's real-life escapade, as page after page she is quoted verbatim. (Izzy was just learning to speak at the time.) Every illustration captures the grandeur, energy, and exuberance of Izzy's great adventure with her dad, in a book children will quickly learn by heart and ask to read over and over and over.

Publishers Weekly

Inspired by the author's vacation with two-year-old daughter Izzy, Neubecker's debut picture book explodes with the frenetic crowds, noises and energy of urban life. Izzy excitedly responds with "Wow! Park!" or "Wow! Parade!" as she and her father explore together. The bustle of the city is largely the focus in enormous spreads that push the sparse text to the bottom of each page. Neubecker's colors-rendered digitally atop thick outlines in India ink-scream with the intensity of a city that never sleeps (the author never states a specific locale, and instead uses details that could apply to several metropolises). Children should enjoy seeking out the duo's faces from the crowd in several scenes. Luckily, Izzy's wild tangle of gold and orange hair stands out even among all the activity around her. Neubecker ably captures the overall cultural diversity of the city, as well as several human details that should resonate with youngsters, such as Izzy's perceptible nervousness beneath a museum's towering T-Rex skeleton and her father's befuddlement with a convoluted subway map. Children should adore exploring the numerous details of each scene, 11 of which are also included in an oversize, crayon-ready coloring book- style poster. Ages 3-7. (Sept.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz - Children's Literature

Young Izzy comes down from her mountain home one day to visit the city, probably New York, with her dad. She is almost speechless in her wonder at the sights. The only text for each double-page spread is "Wow!" plus the name of what has impressed her, "Airplane!" "Taxi!" in traffic, "Bridge!" "Tunnel!" "Buildings!" etc. In each illustration we see Izzy and her father surrounded by the activities of the busy city. This visual catalog of sights is recorded on large double pages in a rough-and-ready style reminiscent of Red Grooms's cityscapes. Black ink drawings with computer-generated added colors create the visual excitement in each scene with active crowds of people, streets, subway cars and stations, cars crossing bridges, etc. The artist ably projects the vitality of the Big Apple in ways to which a tourist might respond. His inviting introduction makes the repeated "Wow!" almost redundant. 2004, Hyperion Books for Children, Ages 3 to 7.

School Library Journal

PreS-A toddler who has been raised in the mountains takes a trip with her father to the city. Perched in a backpack on her daddy's shoulders, Izzy observes the teeming urban scenes that swirl around them. Each enormous double-page illustration is accompanied by a "Wow!" and a one-word description of the location ("Wow! Tunnel!" or "Wow! Museum!"). Drawn in India ink and vividly colored on a Macintosh computer using Adobe Photoshop, the illustrations are full of life, action, and detail, with people of every description, animals, vehicles, and excitement everywhere. Young children will pore over the busy pictures, and will also have fun finding Izzy and her dad in the crowd. This book also works well as a read-aloud for very young listeners who will join in on the "Wows!"-Jane Barrer, Washington Square Village Creative Steps, New York City Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

A young girl comes down from her mountain home for a visit to New York City with her father. "WOW!" The brief text is to the point. "WOW! TAXI!" "WOW! TUNNEL!" "WOW! BUILDINGS!" "WOW! PARK!" The extra-large double-spread illustrations bounce off the pages with strong colors, kinetic street vistas, and dizzying perspectives of high-rise buildings. Neubecker uses line to create powerful images of fire trucks, bridges, and subways while at the same time paying homage to the city's multiply-hued population who fill the streets as they work, travel, play, and celebrate. Filled with energy and excitement, this works as a travel guide for the very youngest readers and fun title to share for programs and lap-sit reads. (Picture book. 2-6)

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