Zoe Sophia's Scrapbook
An Adventure in Venice
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- £2.99
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- £2.99
Publisher Description
Adventurous Zoe Sophia and her dog, Mickey, embark on a whirlwind trip to Venice to visit her great aunt Dorothy Pomander. During her stay, Zoe Sophia sees the sites, explores the city and bonds with her wonderful, quirky aunt. Featuring fun, vibrant watercolor illustrations, this engaging scrapbook captures the landscape of Venice and the importance of loving relationships.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Aspiring globetrotters will enjoy meeting Zoe Sophia, a sophisticated but sweet nine-year-old New Yorker who shares her scrapbook-in-progress during a voyage to Venice in this kicky picture-book travelogue. Though the narrator adores her big-city life, she eagerly anticipates a trip to Italy to visit her beloved great-aunt Dorothy, with her constant companion, Mickey the dachshund, in tow. Girl and dog immediately embrace Dorothy's version of la dolce vita, touring art galleries and landmarks, riding a vaporetto ("like a boat-bus") and gondola, attending the opera and enjoying Italian cuisine. But when Mickey disappears one afternoon, things threaten to go sour. Happily, a tidy Zoe-Mickey reunion ensures more bright spots in the vacation. Making their children's book debuts, Mauner and Smalley (college friends) create a sensory experience of one of the world's great cities via the eyes of a spirited yet never obnoxious heroine. Italian words and phrases (with parenthetical definitions), names of historic sites and descriptions of various customs pepper Zoe's easy-flowing entries. The text sustains a nice balance between Zoe Sophia's appropriate sense of wonder, and a slightly precocious tone. Throughout, Mauner delivers a distinct sense of place with her watercolor-and-India ink compositions. Her scenes some full-page paintings, some framed to look like scrapbook photos incorporate humorous and factual details that lend her setting and characters copious personality (a window view of a "gondola repair shop" looks like a backdrop to a Chirico painting; funky boots, striped stockings and trendy glasses). Readers may well shout, "Brava!" and wish for the heroine's swift return. Ages 3-7.