Books That Take You There: Washington, D.C.

Planning your upcoming summer vacation? Washington, D.C., is a city full of history, charm, monuments, and museums. Summer in our nation's capitol is an especially exciting time with many free activities, festivals, and an impressive Independence Day celebration. Whether you're hoping to travel there in person or dreaming about it from the comfort of your living room, these books will give you a taste of the distinctive D.C. experience!

The White House Cat

Written by Cylin Busby

Illustrated by Neely Daggett

New York, NY: Balzer + Bray, 2022. Picture Book.

Take a tour of the White House from a cat's perspective and learn lots of fun facts about the most famous residence in America along the way!

Washington, DC City Trails

By Moira Butterfield

Oakland, CA: Lonely Planet Global Ltd., 2017. Informational. 102 pages.

Chock-full of little known facts and secrets, each city trail follows a different theme around the Washington, D.C., area. Trails include themes such as City Sounds, Statue City, Washington G-g-g-ghosts, and D.C. Time Travel among others.

Monument Maker: Daniel Chester French and the Lincoln Memorial

Written by Linda Booth Sweeney

Illustrated by Shawn Fields

Thomaston, Maine: Tilbury House Publishers, 2019. Biography. 63 pages.

Following the early life and training of Daniel Chester French, this biography tells of how French became America's foremost sculptor and the artist responsible for the Lincoln Memorial. Fascinating insight is provided on the motivation, process, and symbolism behind his greatest work.

One More Acorn

By Don Freeman and Roy Freeman

New York: Viking, 2010. Picture Book.

A squirrel hunts for a memorable acorn during an autumn day in Washington, D.C. His search takes him past famous landmarks such as Lafayette Square, the Washington Monument, the US Capitol Building, the Lincoln Memorial, and ends with a parade down Constitution Avenue.

How to Build a Museum: Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture

By Tonya Bolden

New York : Viking, 2016. Informational. 53 pages.

How to Build a Museum chronicles the 100 year journey of the construction of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the most recent and likely the last museum to be built on the National Mall.

Comments

Review: The Factory

The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages. Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...

Review: Fowl Play

Fowl Play By Kristin O'Donnell Tubb New York: Katherine Tegen Books, 2024. Fiction 277 pages. Still reeling from her beloved uncle's death, Chloe Alvarez is comforted and confused when at his last will and testament reading, Uncle Will gifts her his African Grey parrot, Charlie. Charlie has a robust vocabulary and loves to make Alexa requests for her favorite songs, but when she starts saying things like, "homicide," and "cyanide," Chloe becomes convinced that Uncle Will may have met his demise by murder instead of a genetic disease, as was previously thought. Ultimately, bringing in her brother, Grammy, and Uncle Frank (and of course Charlie,) Chloe's ragtag and adoring family support her search for answers ---going on stakeouts, engaging in fast pursuits, and searching for clues. But as the suspects stack up and the mystery grows, Chole will learn that the process of death and grieving is complicated, and in the end her Uncle Will's words that, ...

National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry

National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry Edited by J. Patrick Lewis National Geographic, 2012, 183 p. Poetry In this beautiful poetry collection, the National Children's Poet Laureate, J. Patrick Lewis, has teamed up with the amazing photographers at National Geographic. The result is 200 poems about animals, all illustrated with stunning nature photography. The poems are well chosen and include rhyming, free verse, and shape poetry. Some of the poems are funny, many are contemplative and all are nicely typeset on top of the full color photographs. One of my favorites is a shape poem about flamingos, with a photograph of a flock of flamingos which seem to be standing the the shape of a flamingo (how did they do that?). Lewis ends the collection with a brief but interesting section about writing animal poetry. This selection is sure to turn any animal lover into a poetry lover.

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