Vendela in Venice

Rating:
Summary: Fun Souvenir of Venice for Children and Adults!
Review: I cchecked this out of the library to share some of the magic of Venice with my tweleve year old. She's been at me because I go on and on about La Serenissima, and having read the book, she now understands a bit of why I came to love this city so. I bought the book to keep with my Venice souvenirs as it gives so much information about the city and her sights.

Rating:
Summary: Vendela made our trip to Venice
Review: My 8 year old son read Vendela over and over before we went to Venice. His familiarity with the city made our trip - he recognized sites from the air on the way in based on the book! The author weaves facts and history into the narrative so we didn't realize until there how much we had learned about history, art, statues, bridges, cats, lions, and getting around -- my son even figured out where we were lost one time based on an illustration he remembered. We based much of our visit on what Vendela had done, since it felt familiar (and magical for dad & boy). Vendela is part of our scrapbook now; terrific book. I wish such a work were available for every city. Beautiful illustrations, too!

Rating:
Summary: Vendela made our trip to Venice
Review: This book was read and reviewed for a mother-daughter book club that I attend. It's a book club of six, nine-year old girls with their respective mothers. None of the girls liked this book. They all found it rather boring.

The mothers and I can understand how the girls could find this book dry, but it was highly informative and the girls learned a great deal about Venice. We all agreed that we wanted to see Venice one day. This book was very thorough in explaining the history and traditions of Venice. I personally liked that quality.

We read another book a few months ago entitled "The Diary of Melanie Martin". It was a book about a young girl's travels in Italy. The girls in the book club enjoyed that one much more because they were able to get into the thoughts of the main character. While with this book, they got more information on Venice than on the character. I'm sure if Vendela's adventures were more exciting than informative, they would have enjoyed the book more.

Rating:
Summary: Fun Souvenir of Venice for Children and Adults!
Review: This is the best child's book I have seen so far. I read it to my 7 year old son and I loved it as much as he did. I have been to Venice and I learned a lot of new things that I did not know. The story is interesting in a travelogue sort of way and the illustrations are wonderful and varied. The only similar book that comes close would be The Three Golden Keys about Prague. As a previous reviewer stated it would be great if there was a book about every city like this. Although a child's book it is quite substantial, beautifully produced, and well worth the money.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding!
Review: This is the best child's book I have seen so far. I read it to my 7 year old son and I loved it as much as he did. I have been to Venice and I learned a lot of new things that I did not know. The story is interesting in a travelogue sort of way and the illustrations are wonderful and varied. The only similar book that comes close would be The Three Golden Keys about Prague. As a previous reviewer stated it would be great if there was a book about every city like this. Although a child's book it is quite substantial, beautifully produced, and well worth the money.

Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: Vendela in Venice is a wonderful, "state-of-the-art" children's book. My daughter's 3rd grade teacher was particularly interested in Italy, and used the book for half the year for reading as well as art project inspiration (children re-created the gold horses in St. Mark's Square). The book is beautifully illustrated, and also includes real photographs of Venice - the graphics are stunning. The story is great, it is the story of Vendela, who visits Venice with her father (who says, " ..every child should go to Venice, because Venice is a fairy-tale city."). The book is packed with information about the city - from art & architecture to glass-blowing, history of Venice and the problem that Venice is facing currently (sinking!). The story is told from Vendela's perspective (she is around nine or ten years old), and so amusing - it is fun to read. All the great information is given along with the story of her trip and the things that happen to her (for instance, the time she gets a fish bone stuck in her throat and they have to pay a visit to the emergency room). I've bought two copies so far, and I'll be picking up more for birthday presents throughout the year - terrific book!