The Inside-outside Book of London

Inside-Outside

by Roxie Munro

Illustrations present noted sights in London as seen from the outside and inside, such as the British Museum, Houses of Parliament, Tower of London, Waterloo Station, and St. Paul's Cathedral. Includes a section of text in the back of the book providing information on each sight.Captioned illustrations depict noted sights in London, including the British Museum, Houses of Parliament, Tower of London, Waterloo Station, St. Paul's Cathedral, and others

Genres: Picture Books, Travel, Childrens, London, History

48 pages, Hardcover

First published October 31, 1989

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

[Gerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Birthday present today and read immediately, and thoroughly enjoyed; great illustrations and additional historical notes on each of the double page images all go to making this a first-rate book.

Some of the scenes depicted have two associated illustrations; for instance the opening illustration is an exterior view of The British Museum with people and schoolchildren making their way in to view the exhibits while the follow-up illustration is of a glorious series of Egyptian Mummies laid out in the Egyptology department.

Similarly the hustle and bustle of Waterloo Station is followed by a view from the interior of a train dashing through the suburbs en route to its destination. The changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace is followed by a view of the Queen's carriage making its way through waving crowds, probably on a state visit and the view of the Houses of Parliament from the River Thames is followed by a relatively quiet interior view of the House of Commons [I have to say that the first time I went into the Chamber when working for the Chancellor of the Exchequer I was quite disappointed because at that time the back benches were literally benches - I was expecting something a little more plush!].

A great side-on close up of the classic 1960s' Routemaster red bus is followed by a view from the upstairs front seat as the bus moves along Regent Street; an interesting notice is attached to the upstairs interior of the bus just above the windows and it states, 'Smokers are asked to occupy rear seats'. I don't remember such a notice but there again when I did use the bus I always travelled downstairs and smoking was only allowed upstairs.

The walls of the Tower of London are featured while inside the Tower we visit the Armoury and then, on a third image, the boy who is viewing the suits of armour is seen through the grill, as it were, from inside a suit of armour! And the magnificent dome of St Paul's Cathedral is followed by an interior view of the Whispering Gallery with a whisperer either side of the atrium, presumably listening to each others comments. [As I was reading the book and saw St Paul's I said to my friend who gave me the book that I remembered my first visit to St Paul's and how I found the Whispering Gallery fascinating as my Dad was at one side and myself at the other and we could hear each other quite clearly - I didn't realise then that the following illustration was of that very Gallery!]

There are double page illustrations (but with no follow-up) of an umbrella shop in New Oxford Street with passers by rushing about with umbrellas up to protect them from a downpour and a busy Shaftesbury Avenue with Les Miserables showing at the Palace Theatre.

'The Inside-Outside Book of London' is a sparkling virtual tour of the Metropolis presented in a unique and very interesting way.

[Waldo Mum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful!

[Becky B · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tour of famous places in London as seen from outside and inside.

This is really simple in text, just labels of location at the bottom of spreads. However, the art is fantastic and does a great job giving you a tour of London. It reminded me very much of my own tour of London a few years ago. Simple, but effective. A great virtual tour for kids (or adults).

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've give this book roughly a 2.5. It has detailed illustrations of the insides and outsides of various sites in London, but isn't really comprehensive or informative. Illustrations just show the name of the place not anything else - nothing about the significance. At the very end of the book there's one page that attempts to describe all twenty or so of the sites with a paragraph for each. That's not really helpful for someone who is unfamiliar with the city's sites. Nice illustrations and concept of inside/outside, but there are much more effective books about London for children.

[Michael Fitzgerald · Rating 2 out of 5]

Neither especially informative nor artistic. The inside-outside gimmick adds little.

[Debby Baumgartner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Large drawings of important places in London.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite enjoyable...no Baker Street though. That itself might be enough to knock it down a few stars, but I'm feeling gracious today.
Really neat book!