Chapter Book Review: New York City

New York City (Read-it! Chapter Books)
Written and illustrated by:  Lisa Thompson
Published by: Picture Window Books, 2006

* On one of their weekend trips to the library my husband found this book and thought my daughter would enjoy it.  My daughter read it on her own and then, because I was curious, I read the book.  I found this book to be a great mix of fiction and fact.  Ari and Tess are skateboarding, although I'm not sure you know here, when they receive their first mission.  They discover that they have been picked as special agents by the SWAT (Secret World Adventure Team) and must travel to New York City.  They have 24 hours to help a boy named TJ and his friends save their skate park.  Once they get to New York and meet TJ they get involved in a treasure hunt competition that, if they win, will give them enough money to save the skate park.  As the kids race around NYC lots of information about famous landmarks are given.  I also liked the use of real photographs interspersed with black and white "sketch" illustrations.  I don't think the skateboard theme was very appealing to my six year old daughter (who knows practically nothing about skateboarding and doesn't seem very interested in learning more!).  However, we live in the suburbs of NYC and she's been several times, so she was familiar with some of the landmarks mentioned.  Plus, she enjoys scavenger hunts.  She's already expressed interest in reading book #2 in the series Mission 002:  Sent to Sydney.  I'm also very curious to check it out.  Other missions take the reader to London, Tokyo, Africa, Spain, India, and Thailand. I think these books are a great way for children to learn more about the world around them! 

This book was borrowed from the library.

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Family Rating: 2 thumbs up!