Big Brilliant World

Here is a brightly coloured hardback overflowing with interesting information about 12 cities around the world: Mexico City, New York, London, Paris, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Berlin, Budapest, Rome, Istanbul, Seoul and Tokyo. The Contents page comprises a map of the world indicating the cities covered, and the scope of the book is laid out on the next two pages. Each of the following spreads is devoted to one city and includes bite sized chunks of information regarding the architecture, food, cultural venues and transport to be found there.

I was fascinated to learn little known facts about these chosen cities. For example, ‘Rome is home to thousands of stray cats, which are protected by law and allowed to live freely throughout the city’ (p.22). Similarly, there are lots of interesting pieces of information about food and drink: ‘Turkish people each drink an average of 3 kilograms of tea per year – more than any other country in the world’ (p. 25).

In addition to the above contents there are also some first words in foreign languages which I am sure youngsters of this age group will have fun learning. It must be pointed out that adult help and support with this book will bring out its full potential. I particularly liked the final spread entitled ‘Goodbye!’ which provides the young person with the foreign language words for ‘goodbye’ as indicated by the various flags on different modes of transport.

The talent of both the award-winning author and illustrator shines through every busy, colourful page in this book, including the covers and endpapers. I loved the little characters that pop up throughout the city scenes. Meticulous detail is evident throughout this beautiful hardback making it a lively source of interesting facts. My only suggestion is that the same team should create a follow-up publication on another 12 cities as I am sure this publication will capture the imaginations of little ones.