

It'sMarvelous Middle Grade Monday
at
and #IMWAYR day
at
Lonely Planet.
A Kid's Guide to LondonJune 26, 2025 by LONELY PLANET
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
I've always been a big fan of the
Let's Go travel guides; back before the internet, that's how we planned our travel. Those, of course, had very specific information about hotels and restaurants in addition to the descriptions of sights to see, but were great for getting an idea of what experiences to plan.
While Let's Go books were densely packed paperbacks with few pictures and a ton of tiny text, This Lonely Planet series has beautiful pictures of London locations, and brief overviews of appealing places to visit.
The fact that this one started off with different ways to travel around the city was brilliant; when my daughter and I visited London in 2016, one of our favorite things to do was to travel on the Tube because it made us feel like we lived in the city. From double decker buses to light rail, London has a lot of different ways to get around, including lots of great walking routes. One I totally missed was the Green Belt Cycle Route, so if I ever get back to London, you know I will be investigating that.
The different chapters were well arranged, and included information about places to play and eat, as well as specific coverage of sights along the Thames, and "royal treatment" which will definitely appeal to young Anglophiles. The chapters on "The Wild Side" included not only the zoo, but also wildlife in parks inside the city. "Going Green" showcased a number of outdoor sights, including Primrose Hill (which was worth the climb!) and Queen Mary's Garden, which has spectacular roses is you time your visit right.
London is probably my favorite city in the world, not that I have been to many, and this book offered me plenty of nostalgic moments as well as new adventures I would love to take. I'd be careful handing this book to young people, since they might develop an overwhelming urge to travel to Great Britain so that they can bring the scenes in this book to life.
Lonely Planet.
A Kid's Guide to RomeJune 26, 2025 by LONELY PLANET
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
The Rome I visited in 1985 was from a completely different era. The lira was still in use. You could ride the bus without a ticket if you were really desperate, fearing arrest the entire time. It was hard to know exactly what days the Villa Borghese was open. (Not on Mondays, so I didn't get to see it.) It was also hard to build anticipation, since seeing pictures of the city was as easy as opening Google Maps. Reading A Kid's Guide to Rome makes me want to return so that I can walk into the great pictures from this book.
Not only are there a lot of good travel tips, such as how to get around the city and the sorts of food to look for, but there are also good historical tidbits, such as the fact that the Vespa scooter was developed as a way to get across the war town roads after World War II. Rome has so much history, and it's easy to become obsessed about the ancient parts of the city, so it was good to see descriptions of modern sights as well. I now sort of want to go to an amusement park in another country now, even though I'm not usually a fan of these venues!
This was arranged in a very compelling way, starting with travel and food, and moving on to enticing subjects like secrets of the city. There are some maps that help to understand how big a city Rome is, and a complete index, which is helpful in looking up different places.
My students often say they don't want to travel, but I think it's because they don't know what fascinating places there are in the world. This series also includes books about Paris and New York and is perfect for middle school readers. I'm interested in seeing the City Trails books by this publisher, even though they look to be for a bit younger audience. Travel books are a great thing to read when winter blues descend!
Tousey, Jen.
Awesome Road Trip Activities for Kids: Over 100 Fun Games, Puzzles, and Journal Prompts!
March 11, 2025 by Callisto Kids
E ARC Provided by Netgalley
This activity book would be a fantastic resource for children who have to take long car trips with their families... as long as they don't get car sick reading in the car the way that I do! This starts with a helpful map of the US, as well as a pictorial listing of road signs. Talk about reinforcing skills needed as an adult! I remember taking the exam for my driver's permit and wondering why I had never paid any attention to road signs!
This has great prompts for some classic car games, like All Around Town Bingo, and has a section for jokes, problems and riddles. This is a consumable book, so if you have multiple children, you might want more than one copy. There are word searches, codes to break, mazes, and a travel journal, as well as "silly stories", which are rather like Mad Libs.
There is a helpful answer key at the back, so frustration will be limited. The illustrations are simple and colorful, with plenty of white space. If I had this book as a child, I would have wanted a variety of colors of pens so I could have used this on different trips and kept them straight. The list price for this is $9, which would be money well spent for the entertainment it provides! The author does note that she tested these activities on her daughter, and they do all seem like children up to 12 or 13 would be interested in them. I've recently been appalled at home much time children spend on screens, and this would be a good way to distract children on long journeys without using damaging technology.
Svoboda, Tomáš Smot.
Up, Up, and Away: The History of AviationJuly 8, 2025 by Albatros Media
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
This was a beautifully illustrated overview of the history of aviation, shorter than Grove's
Milestones of Flight, but also more culturally inclusive. I was impressed with the range of topics that were included; Akron's Goodyear blimp was even included. Younger readers will be drawn in by the grandfather ostensibly telling the story.
Readers who are interested in the intricacies of the development of different forms of transporation will want to add this one to their shelves alongside Adams and Jay's
On Track: The Remarkable Story of How Trains Have Changed Our World, Ralphs'
Transported: 50 Vehicles That Changed the World, or Kirkfield's
From Here to There.