Review Detail

One of the great things about books is, of course, that they enable you to travel without a ticket. You can sit in one corner of the world and still experience the sights, sounds, smells and colours of the other end through the pages of a book. Metropolis by Benoit Tardif does just that. It offers you bite-sized information about what you can see, hear, eat and feel in thirty-two of the world’s greatest cities (Beijing, Amsterdam, Cairo, Auckland, Nairobi, Moscow, to name a few) through minimal text and quirky illustrations.
This book is a great way to introduce children to some fascinating places, their landmarks and icons and, most importantly, different cultures. Even though each city seems to have its own distinct personality, the book also very clearly demonstrates the similarities running through them.
While the style of Metropolis is definitely engaging, I’d have personally liked a little more narrative and description, though as a first travelogue for children, this works quite well.