Hot City [Hardcover]

Barbara Joosse (Author), R. Gregory Christie (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

It's one of those days in the city when the sidewalk is hot as a frying pan, and Mimi and her little brother Joe are sweatin' out rivers. Spyin' on Mama and the blah blah ladies is no fun. Out on the street the buses are huffin' out dragon-hot smoke. Even a princess-pink snow cone melts away too fast to lick.

Then Mimi and Joe find their way to a place where it's always cool, a place where you can be a princess on a throne or a dinosaur in a forest, a place where you can let your imagination run free . . . the library.

Gregory Christie's red-hot illustrations team up with Barbara Joosse's smooth urban voice in this book that points the way to the coolest place in any city.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 4–Two African-American siblings sit on the front stoop of their apartment building on a summer day wondering what to do for fun. After spying on their mother and the "blah blah ladies" and trying to cool off with swiftly melting snow cones, Mimi and Joe make their way through the sizzling streets to the sanctuary of the public library. They gratefully drop down into the "smooth and cool" chairs with their books, eager to escape from the heat into the imaginary worlds of princesses and dinosaurs. Eventually, the children reluctantly venture back outside, and as they head for home, Joe aptly sums up their afternoon by stating, "It's good we came. Isn't it." This eloquently told story is boldly illustrated with evocative acrylic paintings in shades of orange, red, and yellow. A few wordless spreads fluidly depict Mimi's imaginary adventure as a fairy-tale princess, as she rides a pink unicorn and foils a robbery. Pair Joosse's outstanding book with Pat Mora's Tomas and the Library Lady (Knopf, 1997), another tribute to the benefits of visiting the library and the joys of reading.–Linda L. Walkins, Mount Saint Joseph Academy, Brighton, MA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

PreS-Gr. 2. The library is cool, and not just in temperature, when Mimi and her active little brother, Joe, seek refuge there from the "dragon hot" city streets. This time the team who created Stars in the Darkness (2002), about scary gang violence, tells an inner-city story that's affectionate and fun. First Mimi and Joe pour ice tea and pass cookies for Mama and the "blah blah ladies." Then the kids slip out, slow and easy, and find the "cooooool" library, where they open the books and travel through time and space. The simple words are physical and immediate, and the gorgeous double-page spreads in Christie's signature painted-collage style show the kids' fabulous fantasy adventures: Mimi is a princess on horseback; Joe rides dinosaurs; and for pages the world is theirs. The contrast between the red-hot city scenes and the excitement the kids find inside books makes a great library poster. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Philomel; 1st edition (June 17, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399236406
• ISBN-13: 978-0399236402
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,337,528 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Barbara Joosse is the author of the ever-popular Mama, Do You Love Me?, along with many other books for young readers. She lives in Cedarburg, Wisconsin.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Picturebook Masterpiece!, February 7, 2005

By 

E. Fox (Oregon Coast USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hot City (Hardcover)

Hot City is one of those picture books that jumps right off the coffee table and gets under your skin. The funny, jazzy, spontaneous, and easy-to-follow text is perfectly illuminated with the bright, lively, syncopated, and imaginative illustrations. The plot is simple enough: a sister and her younger brother finding things to do on a very hot summer day in the city. The dialog moves us through their activities: spying on the 'blah-blah' ladies (that must be universal - how kids feel about their mothers' company and their endless prattle); eating snow cones ("we lick fast, but not fast enough"); and escaping into a cool library. While plopped "down in a big old chair, smooth and cool, like a throne" sister (now Princess) escapes on the back of a unicorn and thwarts a pirate-robber before her brother - riding in on a T.Rex - calls her back to the reality of the library and they depart for home. It's a story that honors where books can take us and would be a great read-aloud to younger children during a library storytime hour.

5.0 out of 5 stars book Hot City by Barbara Joosse, August 23, 2007

By 

Heidi Wilder "HW" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hot City (Hardcover)

This is a delightful book for all ages. The illustrations are fun and creative and the text is also memorable. My two-year old daughter and my 74-year old mother both enjoy it.