I Spy the 50 States, by Sharyn Rosart, illustrated by Sol Linero

Talk about a whirlwind tour of the 50 states!  In Sharyn Rosart's I Spy the 50 States, each state has a page of its own.  Key landmarks, plants, foods, or other distinctive (OK, many not-so-distinctive) features are shown in simple illustrations, about 15-20 per state.  Some are labelled, some are not.  Most make sense, but almost every page had one or two unlabelled illustrations that left me scratching my head.

Each page has a "I spy" challenge, with three things starting with the same letter.  I can see this as an activity book for very young nonreaders who have someone reading to them.  Adding a little interest is a hole to the next page, although in most cases it's just an eagle; there's a bald eagle on every state's page except Hawaii.

I Spy the 50 States is fun and colorful, and captures some of the highlights of each state.  But it's not terribly informative.  I would see this as level 1 of learning about the states.  Kids will want to move on to level 2 and 3 and 4 to learn more about our great nation.  (I'm not thinking of a particular book, just pointing out the very basic nature of this one.)

Gather the toddlers in your lap for an armchair cross-country tour!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!