Third in the best-selling "Journey" series by twin sisters Martha and Heather Zschock, this is a colorful child's-eye view of New York City that excites, educates, and enthralls with dazzling watercolors and fascinating kid-friendly information. This is much more than an alphabet book: each of the twenty-six pages explores a New York theme with a catchy alliterative headline ("Mammals, minerals, and meteorites meet at the museum"), a paragraph of history, and an eye-opening "factoid." There is a page on Broadway ("Audiences applaud actresses and actors"), Wall Street ("Brokers buy and sell billions"), Coney Island ("Cyclone carries courageous kids"), even the events of September 11, 2001, which cheers the way New Yorkers came together in the wake of the tragedy ("Tough times take teamwork").

"A fact-filled, alphabetical journey through the five boroughs of the city. A pigeon serves as a tour guide of sorts, appearing on every page in either the small inset illustration or in one of the smaller spot-art drawings located along the bottom of the pages. The format works well to introduce famous landmarks and neighborhoods with descriptive alliterative sentences, such as "Dragons dance by dim sum diners" as an introduction to Chinatown and "Gorgeous gardens grace glass-houses" for commentary on the New York Botanical Garden. Succinct paragraphs of historical information are located under each full-page, highly detailed colored-pencil-and-watercolor illustration. In a much smaller type size, a one-sentence, sometimes quirky, bit of information is imparted as well, as in "Many skyscrapers don't have a 13th floor. No one wants to be on an unlucky floor " This up-to-date book includes a reference to and inset illustration of the former Twin Towers under the letter T: "Tough times take teamwork." The book begins with a map and a listing of the 26 landmarks showcased. The endpapers offer a different sort of New York alphabet to readers, featuring small illustrations of interesting trademark items, such as a Nathan's hot dog, a blue box from Tiffany's, and a yellow cab. A wonderful testament to a diverse city and its equally diverse residents." -School Library Journal