Christmastime in New York City

by Roxie Munro

Holiday time in Manhattan is full of wondrous things to see--the ThanksgivingDay Parade, store windows filled with marvelous toys and decorations, the bigtree in Rockefeller Center, and the exciting New Year's Eve in Times Square. "Magic and memorable."--Publishers Weekly. FUll color.

Genres: Christmas, Picture Books, Childrens, Nonfiction, Travel, Holiday

32 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1987

About the author

Roxie Munro has been an artist from the age of six, when she won first prize in a county-wide contest for a painting of a bowl of fruit. She has supported herself all her life on her art, at one point freelancing in Washington DC as a television courtroom artist. Clients included CBS, the Washington Post, and the Associated Press. Fourteen of her paintings have been published as covers of "The New Yorker" magazine.

Roxie is an award-winning author/illustrator of more than 35 books for children, primarily nonfiction. Her books have been translated into French, Italian, Dutch, Chinese, and Japanese. Recent books: "Hatch!"; "EcoMazes: 12 Earth Adventures"; "Desert Days, Desert Nights"; "Inside-Outside Dinosaurs"; and "Busy Builders."

"Roxie's a-MAZE-ing Vacation Adventure" is an interactive animated maze game app for the iPad and iPhone; "Roxie's Doors" is a 3-D animated book app for the iPad (OCG Studios, developer). She also did all the art for the new product KIWiSTORYBOOKS (Kids Interactive Walk-in Story Books).

She creates oils, watercolors, prints, and drawings, primarily cityscapes, which are exhibited widely in the US in galleries and museums. Roxie's work is in numerous private, public, and corporate collections.

Roxie Munro studied at the University of Maryland, the Maryland Institute College of Art (Baltimore), received a BFA in Painting from the University of Hawaii, attended graduate school at Ohio University (Athens), and received a Yaddo Fellowship. She lectures in museums, schools, conventions, and teaches watercolor on ships, workshops, and in the Paint in Italy program.

Many of her paintings are views from the roof of her sky-lighted loft studio in Long Island City, just across the East River from her home in mid-Manhattan. Roxie is married to the Swedish writer/photographer, Bo Zaunders.

Check out her website at www.roxiemunro.com

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Artist Roxie Munro presents various iconic New York City holiday scenes in this picture-book, from the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade to Times Square at New Year's. In between are department store Lord & Taylor's gorgeous Christmas windows, the skating rink at Rockefeller Plaza, and the Christmas tree at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, amongst many others. At the end, an author's afterword gives more information about each landmark depicted.

Originally published in 1987 - it was named one of The New York Times' best-illustrated books of that year - Christmastime in New York City was reprinted in this edition in 2014. Some of the scenes depicted are now a little outdated - as other online reviewers have noted, South Street Seaport and the Manhattan skyline now look a little different than they do here - but this still has plenty of appeal, both for contemporary New Yorkers, and for those visiting the great city at the holidays. The artwork has a distinctive, vintage charm, and the scenes open up an urban world in winter to the reader/peruser. There isn't really any story here, more a series of scenes, but for those looking explicitly for books about New York at Christmas, Munro's book is sure to be a winner.

[Christy Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

A predominantly art-based book of images from New York City of various Christmas scenes, this is as much for adults as children. It's a short book with further information on each picture scene at the back of the book. The paintings range from close-ups with a fair bit of detail to stylized landscapes. Subjects range from Times Square and Rockefeller Plaza Ice Skating Rink to the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade and Radio City Music Hall performance by the Rockettes. I've looked through this most years, but had never added it to my Goodreads before. It was a gift many years ago from a good friend.

[Michael Fitzgerald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing surprising about this book. It hits all the main attractions. The illustrations are merely average. I wish the actual information weren't relegated to tiny text on a single back page.

[Alex Baugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Christmas in New York City - the lights, the decorations, the crowds, the outdoor markets, the delicious smells, the whole kit and kaboodle. Except this year. Between the endless construction on the Second Avenue Subway and the security around 57th Street and Fifth Avenue(Trump Tower), we have not desire to travel into midtown Manhattan. So we have been satisfying our Christmas in NYC needs with some of our favorite picture books and Roxie Munro has hit all the right spots in her beautifully painted tribute to it. Beginning with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, there is holiday skating in front of the iconic Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, a visit to the Christmas show at Radio City Music Hall, even a four page spread of the Christmas department store windows at Lord & Taylor's, then on to the NYPL to say hi to the famous library lions, Patience and Fortitude, decked out in their holiday wreaths, among other sights. NYC is truly a wonderland during the holidays and Roxie has done her proud.

[Russell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is particularly hilarious in the wake of all the changes in New York City. What the book focuses on for the holiday season is particularly different than what would be shown these days. A pair of stone lions with wreaths on their necks, compared to the Winter Village at Bryant Park on the very same block these days? South Street Seaport as a collection of ships instead of a giant tourist destination is hilarious, more so with the overpass in the distance that now would show signs of the New Amsterdam Market underneath it.

I question showing the Lord and Taylor windows, but not Macy's. Maybe under Ed Koch, Lord and Taylor really brought it. I don't remember. But it's the only holiday feature to get two full pages.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of a handful of books that I think about and want to read each Christmas season, so it was due to be bumped up from my previous rating.

[Mckinley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Other than naming the place there are no words. Fun illustrations of the city in the winter.