The 8 Wonders of Cincinnati

by Wendy Hart Beckman, Allison Ranieri (Illustrator)

Cincinnati is an amazing place to live and visit for so many reasons. Local author Wendy Beckman and illustrator Allison Ranieri celebrate the city’s eight wonders: architecture, art, commerce, customs, food, geography, history and people. With its Venetian Gothic lancet arches and crystal chandeliers, the Cincinnati Music Hall stands as an architectural masterpiece. The Cincinnati Red Stockings made history as the first professional baseball team. Remnants of marine fossils from the Ordovician Period remind residents that the city was once under water. Limitless local varieties of goetta range from family recipes to trendy café dishes. And the city birthed trailblazers like track and field star DeHart Hubbard, the first African American to win an Olympic gold medal in an individual event. These stories and more reveal the unique character of the Queen City.

Paperback

First published November 6, 2017

About the author

Wendy Beckman is the author of 10 books (five YA nonfiction and five adult nonfiction): Artists and Writers of the Harlem Renaissance; National Parks in Crisis: Debating the Issues; Communication Tools Made Easy; Dating, Relationships, and Sexuality: What Teens Should Know; Robert Cormier: Banned, Challenged, and Censored; Harlem Renaissance Artists and Writers; Founders and Famous Families of Cincinnati; University of Cincinnati College of Nursing: 125 Years of Transforming Health Care; and The 8 Wonders of Cincinnati. She is also a freelance writer and editor and writing instructor.

She is the co-founder of a nonprofit called "Athletes Joined Against Spondylitis," which she established to raise awareness and funds for research and treatment of a crippling form of arthritis called ankylosing spondylitis. She also has a second-degree black belt in tae kwon do.

Wendy also is a music lover and has studied piano, violin, oboe and voice. For 10 years, she sang in the May Festival Chorus, the official chorus of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the oldest continuous choral tradition in the Western Hemisphere.