In Lucia's Neighborhood

April 1, 2013

PreS-Gr 2-A gentle salute to Jane Jacobs, an activist and promoter of vibrant urban communities. In this quiet story, Lucia and her grandmother talk about Jacobs's work and what really makes a neighborhood and gives it life. Then, the two take note of the people and activities in their immediate surroundings. The mailman is out delivering the mail, and a farmer's market is set up in the park. Children play on the swings while elderly men rest underneath the shade of the trees. Others practice Tai Chi. Dog lovers let their pets off-leash in designated areas, and joggers run by. Lucia and Grandmother notice the shopkeepers getting ready for a busy day and pass neighbors tending to their gardens. In summer, Lucia's neighborhood has a parade with colorful decorations and marching bands. Rendered digitally, Colek's colorful illustrations are done in folk-art style. This book is a good discussion starter about neighborhoods, community helpers, and business owners, as well as a celebration of urban networking and the need for interpersonal interaction.-Roxanne Burg, Orange County Public Library, CA

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2013
This Canadian import, adapted from an animated film, is an earnest effort to paint a positive picture of an urban neighborhood. Unfortunately, it fails to bring the narrator and her surroundings to life. Beginning with a reference to Jane Jacobs, a mid-20th-century journalist, author and activist who focused on urban planning, the text is explicitly purposive. Lucia, the narrator, uses simple declarative sentences to describe her community and review a typical day's activities. In the morning, "[m]y neighborhood is pretty busy"; at noon, the letter carrier comes by, and school kids like Lucia come home for lunch ("Grandmother made my favorite soup!"). There's the excitement of a local parade in the afternoon, and at the end of the day "things quiet down." In meticulous, ebullient detail, Lucia faithfully describes everyday events and alludes to various friends and neighbors. The neighborhood is somewhat multicultural; apparently many residents (and possibly Lucia herself) are of Portuguese descent. The flat, digitally created illustrations have an appealing folk-art feel and offer more interesting detail than the bland text. Lucia's life and location may be much more compelling in Montrose Avenue, the animated short in which she made her first appearance. Most readers, however, will find little reason to linger in her neighborhood. Good intentions and appealing artwork can't overcome the vague descriptions and generic flavor of this narrative. (Picture book. 4-7)

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April 1, 2013
Preschool-G Beginning with an epigraph from urban activist Jane Jacobs, this quietly observant book demonstrates the kind of active street life Jacobs called for by focusing on a small neighborhood in Toronto. Lucia is a seven-year-old girl whose grandmother has been telling her about Jacobs. So Lucia guides us through her own neighborhood, from day to night, from her front steps to the nearby park to shops on busy College Street and back to her block, still filled at dusk with neighbors chatting on porches or in front of their homes. Colek's olive-tinted digital illustrations feature layered depths of focus, allowing the foreground and background to create a realistic sense of activity. While the link to Jacobs seems a little out of reach for young readers, this may make a great catalyst for talking with children about what makes a neighborhood work. The book is based on Shewchuk and Colek's animated short film, Montrose Avenue.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)