Larry Gets Lost in Washington, DC
It’s another road trip for Pete, his parents, and their dog, Larry. Now in Washington, D.C., they stop first at Arlington National Cemetery, then at the Lincoln Memorial, where Larry gets lost. He runs past the White House as well as a number of significant memorials, monuments, and museums. Finally, he enters the Library of Congress, where a librarian helps him find his family members, who are at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. The weakest part of the book is the utilitarian, rhyming text. In contrast, the digital artwork is consistently dynamic and appealing. Nicely varied, the illustrations range from a bird’s-eye view of the National Mall to a picture of the White House with tourists silhouetted against the green lawn. Older kids will learn from the descriptions of sites set within the illustrations, while younger ones will enjoy following the winding, dotted line that indicates Larry’s path. This hybrid of fictional story and informational text is a useful addition to the Larry Gets Lost travel series for the picture-book crowd. Preschool-Grade 3. --Carolyn Phelan