Capital

Simon & Schuster continues to lead the flag-waving wave of children's books with "Capital," the publisher's latest patriotic primer. An informative tutorial geared for older picture book readers, "Capital" is a no-nonsense mini-text book decorated with colorful illustrations, renderings and maps. With years of scholarly research behind him as an art historian, author/illustrator Lynn Curlee takes a suitably serious approach. Though not chaptered, his book is clearly and concisely structured. First, Curlee gives an overview of the five great structures at the heart of the United States capital city, the "bustling metropolis of Washington, D.C." - namely, the White House, George Washington Monument, Abraham Lincoln Memorial, Thomas Jefferson Memorial, and the domed U.S. Capitol building - then proceeds to take a closer look at each one individually and chronologically. This is a fully fleshed account, with at least twice the text of the average non-fiction picture book, so no details are skimped, and the reader is never cheated with sketchy shortcuts. Amid the larger story, sections are peppered with interesting and memorable details such as the fact that future president Thomas Jefferson entered - and lost - a competition to design the original White House, then called the President's House. Curlee's bold, pristine paintings of buildings, settings and key figures architectural are highly stylized, yet accurately rendered to pay respect to the subjects, particularly the architectural details that are discussed in accompanying text. And at the very end, an author's note conveniently outlines the difference between "capitol," "Capitol" and "capital," which will surely aid conversations repeated again and again by teachers, students and most readers...including the book's editors who surely had an interesting proofreading task.