Wake Up, City! - Hardcover

Henri Sorensen lives in Denmark.

Tresselt brings his 1957 text up-to-date for a new generation. Ewing's full-color watercolors go even further, showing women at nearly every job portrayed and including a variety of racial and ethnic representation. The art style is realistic and cozy. Whereas Duvoisin's original three-color art celebrated the bustle and claustrophobia of the city and the tiny scale of people and cars in relation to the skyscrapers, Ewing moves the people up front and adds softening touches of beauty through architectural detail, trees, flowers, birds, and rosy skies. Her compositions are not as strong graphically as Duvoisin's, but they do convey comfort and security. Duvoisin's city was New York-like, while Ewing's looks more like Minneapolis, with single family homes and small apartment buildings close to the city center. She has also put a cat into every picture. Watch for it: the children will. The text reads nicely and will be useful for reading aloud. --Marilyn Iarusso, New York Public Library
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