Parents' Guide to City I Love

City I Love Poster Image

Common Sense Media Review

By Dawn Friedman , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 4+

Snazzy illustrations enhance the city-centric poetry.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 4+?

Any Positive Content?

Parent and Kid Reviews

What's the Story?

A dog, backpacking around the world, stops in several cities, making poetic observations along the way. He appears in cities on every continent to observe and share his thoughts with the reader. The poems are gathered from Hopkins's body of work across almost four decades, but are truly timeless. With grown-up help, kids will able to identify world-famous cities by the inclusion of their landmarks, like the Eiffel Tower and the Washington Monument.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say : Not yet rated
Kids say : Not yet rated

A beautiful book both in pictures and in tone, CITY I LOVE is a terrific way to help kids explore urban destinations around the world as well as giving them new ways to see their own hometowns. Each poem is an easy and melodic read-aloud (you won't find any cheap rhyming schemes here) and the ink and watercolor illustrations are stylized and gorgeous.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the different cities featured here. Which ones do you most want to visit, and why? They can also identify the cities the dog visits using the handy map on the inside of the cover to help. An atlas can make it easier to learn more about the dog's destinations.

Book Details

  • Author : Lee Bennett Hopkins
  • Genre : Picture Book
  • Book type : Fiction
  • Publication date : April 1, 2009
  • Publisher's recommended age(s) : 4 - 8
  • Number of pages : 32
  • Last updated : July 13, 2017

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by

City I Love Poster Image

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate