These are 10 of my favorite children’s books about New York City. #4 is one of the most popular on our bookshelves at TLB! Click on the links to view each Big Apple book on Amazon.
1. 123 NYC: A Counting Book of New York City (2-6 years) View on Amazon
Author: Joanne Dugan
2. B is for Brooklyn (2-6 years) View on Amazon
Author: Selina Alko
3. This is New York (3 and up) View on Amazon
Author/Illustrator: Miroslav Sasek
4. Subway (3 and up) View on Amazon
Author: Anastasia Suen Illustrator: Karen Katz
5. Larry Gets Lost in New York City (3-7 years) View on Amazon
Author/Illustrator: John Skewes Author: Michael Mullin
6. New York, New York!: The Big Apple from A to Z (4-8 years) View on Amazon
Author: Laura Krauss Melmed Illustrator: Frane Lessac
7. Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy’s Parade (4-8 years) View on Amazon
8. A Walk in New York (4-8 years) View on Amazon
Author/Illustrator: Salvatore Rubbino
9. The House on East 88th Street (5-8 years) View on Amazon
Author: Bernard Waber
10. New York City History for Kids: From New Amsterdam to the Big Apple with 21 Activities (9 and up) View on Amazon
Empire State Building, 1931
photo source
I love this shot of the Empire State Building nearing completion in 1931. The observation deck hadn’t been constructed yet so the photo was retouched to add it in!
Here’s a picture of the same view 82 years later:
(George Washington Bridge, NYC)
Last night, I returned from a week of relaxation with friends and family. I love the feeling of driving down the West Side Highway with the windows down on a summer night! I always feel home when I see the lights of the George Washington Bridge!
photo credit: Carina Zimmerman
I took this picture before leaving for vacation! What a gorgeous end-of-summer glow.
click here to enlarge
photo credit: Carina Zimmerman
click here to enlarge | photo source
I’m heading to the beach for the week so I decided to do a post dedicated to old, nostalgic photos from New York beaches. Can you imagine wearing these “swimsuits”? Those dresses must have been so hot and heavy!
{About the Photo}
On August 14, 1945, when the surrender of Japan was announced in the United States, ending World War II, everyone took to the the streets to celebrate. In Times Square, a photographer named Alfred Eisenstaedt was taking pictures of the spontaneous scene and spotted a young sailor running around kissing every woman he could find. Just south of 45th street, the man grabbed a nurse and Alfred captured the moment of their kiss, with the intersection of Broadway and Seventh in the background. The photo, entitled V-J Day in Times Square, was published a week later in a Life magazine spread and become one of the most iconic images of the era.
Did you know that another view of the same kiss was published in the New York Times? This one is called Kissing the War Goodbye, taken by photo journalist Victor Jorgensen:
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Katia and I decided to take our work outside this afternoon to Washington Square Park. It was too beautiful to stay inside all day! I worked on TLB‘s Fall curriculum in the sunshine and was treated to several live performances, including these amazing steppers. I snapped a few shots to share:
Washington Square Park is my favorite park in NYC. It’s always filled with a diverse crowd, inspiring musicians, artists, adorable animals, and children playing! The next time you visit with your kids, print a copy of this scavenger hunt and see if you can you find all 20 items!
Click the link below to download and print the PDF.
Want more scavenger hunts? CLICK HERE
On July 25, 1975, A Chorus Line opened on Broadway at the Shubert Theater. During its run, it won 9 Tony awards and was nominated for 12! A Chorus Line also won the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The above audio of “What I Did for Love” is by the 1975 original Broadway cast.
This summer, my company, TLB Music, teamed up with renowned rapper and DJ Princess Superstar to create a Hip Hop 101 class for kids. The class is a fusion of Hip Hop dance, music and culture perfect for kids who like to dance, perform, and use their imagination. I had the pleasure of sitting in on a class and it was SO much fun! At the beginning of class, Princess Superstar helped students pick their rap names and made name tags for everyone. The kids chose adorable names like P-Flower, J-Star, and D-Heart, using their first initial and a symbol! Then, she taught the class some classic dance moves like The Robot, The Wave, The Moonwalk, and The Running Man. The kids were impressive- one student even pulled off a believable Moonwalk!
(NYC Subway, 1967)
Today, it’s a sweltering 99 degrees in NYC and it feels like 108! Can you imagine commuting in a subway car without air conditioning? On July 19th, 1967- 46 years ago today- the first air-conditioned subway train went into service on the F Line! Read about the history of air conditioning on NYC’s subways here.
If you love shopping like I do, when you walk into an impeccably designed boutique filled with gorgeous clothing and accessories, you feel like a kid in a candy store- wide-eyed with excitement and hungry to try everything. The twist on Cynthia Rowley’s new Upper East Side retail location is that there actually is a candy store right above the boutique! Cynthia has come up with the clever idea of combining shopping for beautiful designer clothing and indulging in a visit to the candy shop with your kids.
I love this new view of lower Manhattan’s skyline. NYC’s One World Trade Center (formerly Freedom Tower) has been slowly rising above the city since its construction began in April of 2006. After the final piece of the antenna was attached to the top of the tower on May 10, 2013, it became America’s tallest building and the world’s third largest!
photo credit: Carina Zimmerman
