A walk in Paris by Salvatore Rubbino

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Walker Books, 2014. ISBN 9781406341522.
(Age: 4+) Highly recommended. Paris, Cities, Grandparents, Travel. A grandfather and his granddaughter spend a day walking through the main attractions of Paris, giving information about each place where they stop, and adding a few French words to the reader's vocabulary as they go.
At the day's end all readers will have a greater understanding of where the places of interest are in Paris, the City of Light, as well as some understanding of French culture.
Each double page is a delight, with colour filled drawings of the older man and his young charge, looking at the sights, sounds and colour of this magical city.
The endpapers have a map of Paris enabling the reader to follow their trail around the Seine, the city's river. The first endpaper is a map with their intended trail marked on it, while the last endpaper has a small index, drawings of their Bistro bill, tickets to some of the places they have seen, some euros and cakes.
One double page which interested me was the view from inside a bistro, and the text explains what a bistro is and why it is specifically French, then the images shows the girl and her grandpa sitting at a table while smaller images are redolent of some aspects of French culture. There is a dog in the bistro, a wall menu has the Plats du Jour, there is a range of people eating and drinking in the bistro, while through the window can be seen the Boulangerie.
On another double page is a view of the well known Paris streets, with their four stories, balconies and shops on the street level. The text again explains why the Parisian streets all look like this, and shows the difference between the small medieval streets and the newer boulevards. And towards the end of the book is a fold out picture of the Eiffel Tower, which will delight younger readers.
This is a charming book, not only for classrooms where French is taught, but also for anyone interested in this beautiful city, learning of the culture, language and sights as they tour with the young girl and her grandfather. A companion book, A walk in New York was published in 2012.
Fran Knight

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