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Keeping the City Going
Brian Floca gives a thank you to the essential workers who keep their cities going during COVID-19 quarantine.
We are here at home now, watching the world through our windows. Outside we see the city we know, but not as we’ve seen it before. The once hustling and bustling streets are empty. Well, almost empty. Around the city there are still people, some, out and about. These are the people keeping us safe. Keeping us healthy. Keeping our mail and our food delivered. Keeping our grocery stores stocked. Keeping the whole city going.
We are here at home now, watching the world through our windows. Outside we see the city we know, but not as we’ve seen it before. The once hustling and bustling streets are empty. Well, almost empty. Around the city there are still people, some, out and about. These are the people keeping us safe. Keeping us healthy. Keeping our mail and our food delivered. Keeping our grocery stores stocked. Keeping the whole city going.
40 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 27, 2021
3 people are currently reading
424 people want to read
About the author
Brian Floca
72 books115 followersBrian Floca is the author-illustrator of the Caldecott Medal winner Locomotive, the Robert F. Sibert Honor books Moonshot and Lightship, and other picture books, and is the illustrator of many more books for young readers. Brian Floca lives and works in Brooklyn.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 206 reviews
May 6, 2021
This book is wonderful for children and adults alike. It’s a story to remind kids that while they were at home and probably watching outside through their windows, to remember that there are other people still out to work to help others in need, like getting the sick people to the hospitals and helping to bring foods to them because their parents couldn’t go to the supermarket like they did in the past. The illustrations of the empty city streets are awesome to look at but sad to see at the same time. It’s like seeing a movie, a deserted city streets due to an apocalypse. Busy streets and store fronts are reduced to stragglers. Many readers may live in small towns and don’t experience the pandemic the same way as people in the big city. This book looks like it shows the big city of New York with tall buildings and many windows. A glimpse into how different empty city streets of New York from the empty streets of where readers live.
This story follows the people watching the world goes by through their window. It looks different outside from what they see now versus what they saw before. How? The streets are empty and the stores/schools are closed. Only very few cars are operating like food/shopping delivery services, police officers, paramedics, doctors, nurses, hospital staffs, etc. Those people who continued working despite pandemic because they are the people keeping the city going. The people worry about what will happen next as they sit at home to keep their distance from others and to keep safe. And so the people thank the frontline workers for keeping the city going and keeping everyone safe.
Keeping the City Going is an excellent book. A closer look at the frontline workers for their continuous service despite putting themselves at risks to the virus in order to keep the rest of the people safe. I enjoy the humor in this book with the mention of toilet paper (see image below). Pandemic got people into a frenzy, cleaning out shelves of toilet papers. People couldn’t help taking pictures of the empty shelves in those early days. This book doesn’t talk about the changes in the children’s lives during pandemic (like not going to school face to face and switching to virtual learning) so children can’t relate much. It’s a story to inform the children that while they are at home with their parents, their classmates’ parents could have been the ones keeping their family safe. A must read book and I do recommend this read to everyone!
xoxo, Jasmine at www.howusefulitis.wordpress.com for more details
Many thanks to Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read and review. Please be assured that my opinions are honest.
This story follows the people watching the world goes by through their window. It looks different outside from what they see now versus what they saw before. How? The streets are empty and the stores/schools are closed. Only very few cars are operating like food/shopping delivery services, police officers, paramedics, doctors, nurses, hospital staffs, etc. Those people who continued working despite pandemic because they are the people keeping the city going. The people worry about what will happen next as they sit at home to keep their distance from others and to keep safe. And so the people thank the frontline workers for keeping the city going and keeping everyone safe.
Keeping the City Going is an excellent book. A closer look at the frontline workers for their continuous service despite putting themselves at risks to the virus in order to keep the rest of the people safe. I enjoy the humor in this book with the mention of toilet paper (see image below). Pandemic got people into a frenzy, cleaning out shelves of toilet papers. People couldn’t help taking pictures of the empty shelves in those early days. This book doesn’t talk about the changes in the children’s lives during pandemic (like not going to school face to face and switching to virtual learning) so children can’t relate much. It’s a story to inform the children that while they are at home with their parents, their classmates’ parents could have been the ones keeping their family safe. A must read book and I do recommend this read to everyone!
xoxo, Jasmine at www.howusefulitis.wordpress.com for more details
Many thanks to Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read and review. Please be assured that my opinions are honest.
May 9, 2021
Keeping the City Going by Brian Floca is a salute to the workers who kept our world moving during the pandemic. From takeout food to taxis to trash pickup. It all kept going! Even when the whole world pressed pause, some things had to remain up and running. And they did because of brave individuals willing to step up in scary and uncertain times. I salute these folks every day. Mr. Floca certainly does in the pages of this book.
The art here is stunning! I loved the truck layout and the trash truck getting center stage and the hard hat peeking up from below. Once upon a time, we walked by buses and repair vans without a second thought or glance. But in 2020, these were the images that stood out and shined the brightest when the streets went silent. These were the sights and people that gave us hope when we needed it.
A beautiful book. Check it out!
p.s. The author’s note at the end had the greatest description about our 2020 world….”A place that felt suddenly transformed and unfamiliar, locked downed and hushed, an Edward Hopper canvas come to life.”
November 28, 2021
What a nice tribute to those who kept New York City running during the height of the Covid-19 Pandemic. And with Brian Floca, you know the illustrations are beautiful.
December 9, 2021
Brian Floca gives a big thank you to all the folks who are keeping the city going during the pandemic.
June 25, 2021
When we first heard about COVID-19, I used to lose sleep worrying about my Kiddo living in China and a mere 600 miles away from ground zero there. Than, before I knew it, New York became somewhat of an epicenter for the virus and almost everyone pulled in their welcome mats and shut down. People wore masks, disposable gloves, carried hand sanitizer and only went out when they needed to. Supermarkets stayed open, but restaurants closed their doors and had delivery only. Theaters and libraries closed and people turned to their Kindles and Nooks. Big Target boxes filled with toilet paper and disinfecting wipes littered apartment buildings lobbies, food delivery services like Instacart became even more popular, and Times Square, the crossroads of the world, was EMPTY. Hospital tents set up in the East Meadow in Central Park, and the Navy docked their hospital ship in New York harbor. But the buses and trains kept going, and essential workers showed up for work every day.
I bring all this up as a way to introduce Brian Floca's newest book Keeping the City Going. It is a homage to the essential workers who kept the city going through it all. Because behind everything I mentioned were/are people who went out in a pandemic to take care of us. And not just in NYC, but all over the country.
The book is narrated in the collective voice of some children looking out their window at their almost street downstairs, reflecting on how the city has changed, and Who the few people they see might be.
Floca has really captured the essence of New York during the lockdown and the frontline workers that we so desperately needed - from bus, subway and taxi drivers who safely carried people from place to place, to the sanitation men who kept the city sort of clean, postal workers who kept the mail going, and even the utility workers who kept us in gas, electricity, water, phones and internet for our zooming and remote learning sessions.
Perhaps my favorite part of the book is the part about the medical and hospital personnel who worked so tirelessly to save the lives of patients who had contracted COVID-19. Probably because I come from a medical family, I really love how Floca pays tribute to all of them - the FDNY, the EMTs, the doctors, nurses, nurses aides, technicians, clerks and cleaners - because sometimes some of these essential workers were/are forgotten about.
Floca has also included our nightly ritual of opening windows and cheering, banging on pots and pans, blowing horns and ringing bells in appreciation for the people who are kept the city going.
In his signature style, Floca's watercolor illustrations are done in a colorful yet soft palette and are as beautifully detailed as the city he is illustrating.
Keeping the City Going is a lovely tribute as well as a timely work documenting those days for now and for the future. And while Floca may have highlighted Brooklyn in particular and NYC in general. this is a book that can be read and appreciated by anyone anywhere who has lived through the pandemic days of 2020-2021. We were all in this together.
This book is recommended for everyone
This book was gratefully received from the publisher Simon & Schuster.
I bring all this up as a way to introduce Brian Floca's newest book Keeping the City Going. It is a homage to the essential workers who kept the city going through it all. Because behind everything I mentioned were/are people who went out in a pandemic to take care of us. And not just in NYC, but all over the country.
The book is narrated in the collective voice of some children looking out their window at their almost street downstairs, reflecting on how the city has changed, and Who the few people they see might be.
Floca has really captured the essence of New York during the lockdown and the frontline workers that we so desperately needed - from bus, subway and taxi drivers who safely carried people from place to place, to the sanitation men who kept the city sort of clean, postal workers who kept the mail going, and even the utility workers who kept us in gas, electricity, water, phones and internet for our zooming and remote learning sessions.
Perhaps my favorite part of the book is the part about the medical and hospital personnel who worked so tirelessly to save the lives of patients who had contracted COVID-19. Probably because I come from a medical family, I really love how Floca pays tribute to all of them - the FDNY, the EMTs, the doctors, nurses, nurses aides, technicians, clerks and cleaners - because sometimes some of these essential workers were/are forgotten about.
Floca has also included our nightly ritual of opening windows and cheering, banging on pots and pans, blowing horns and ringing bells in appreciation for the people who are kept the city going.
In his signature style, Floca's watercolor illustrations are done in a colorful yet soft palette and are as beautifully detailed as the city he is illustrating.
Keeping the City Going is a lovely tribute as well as a timely work documenting those days for now and for the future. And while Floca may have highlighted Brooklyn in particular and NYC in general. this is a book that can be read and appreciated by anyone anywhere who has lived through the pandemic days of 2020-2021. We were all in this together.
This book is recommended for everyone
This book was gratefully received from the publisher Simon & Schuster.
May 10, 2021
I don't honestly want to read any of these PANDEMIC BOOKS again--just on principle right now, it's all just too much for me. That said, some are better than others... and this is one of the better ones.
February 3, 2022
This picture book is wonderful, although it's also really weird to read such recent history already in a book for young children. Kids living in a New York City apartment experience the city during the initial COVID-19 shutdown, looking out their window at the "strangely still...almost empty" streets, except for the essential workers. Floca's fantastic photo-realistic drawings depict food delivery bicyclists, cab drivers, bus drivers, sanitation truck drivers, postal workers and so on, all leading up to EMTs, fire, police, and medical personnel and the daily 7 o'clock clapping/cheering/drumming thank yous to them from all of the windows. I loved the little bits of humor, such as when he describes the sanitation truck workers: "They're the people keeping the city clean. (You know, pretty clean.)" Or the FedEx worker bringing "That one thing we ordered that we don't really need...but we've been stuck here at home, and we're bored, and we bought it. (We'll try not to do it again.)" Nice way to capture an important moment in time and explain it for young readers.
May 28, 2021
A lovely, moving tribute to the many essential workers who kept their cities functioning during the pandemic.
June 30, 2021
A gorgeous tribute to everyone who didn't have the privilege to stay home because of COVID.
November 9, 2021
Floca does a masterful job of capturing the mood, tone, and rhythm of the city during the pandemic. Pair it with Outside, Inside and invite the children to share their stories. The Mock Caldecott group suggested it for consideration for 2022 medal. I'm not feeling it.
October 7, 2021
I liked the text, and I liked the illustrations, especially all of the many details that Floca put into the vehicles and buildings.
September 28, 2021
The text is a wonderful homage to the essential workers during the COVID quarantine. The illustrations are incredibly detailed and gorgeous studies of the vehicles associated with those workers.
May 20, 2021
This picture book by Caldecott Award winner Floca explores the Covid-19 pandemic. Through New York City streets, the book shows how most people were forced to stay indoors and watch the streets go quiet. But the streets never emptied entirely, since there were people working at essential jobs. People were still out and about using all sorts of vehicles. There were people delivering mail and packages, people heading to work in hospitals, others making food deliveries on their bicycles, still others picking up trash, and police and fire protecting everyone. Then every night, the windows opened and people shouted and banged their appreciation for these people who kept on working through the danger and the emptiness to keep everyone safe, fed and looked after.
The text in the book is simple, explaining what happened to cause the streets to empty as people took refuge in their homes to stay safe. The book shows vehicles of all sorts but also shows lovely moments of connection, of toys being delivered or taxis stopping to get someone with lots of grocery bags.
Floca tells us in his Author’s Note that he created these images during the pandemic’s height in New York City. As the streets emptied, he found solace in drawing the vehicles that continued to move through the city. He then took those images and made them into this book, which explains the aching melancholy of some of the images as they show the empty streets and the vast change to a normally bustling city.
A beautiful yearning look at New York City in 2020 with plenty of interesting vehicles to explore. Appropriate for ages 3-5.
The text in the book is simple, explaining what happened to cause the streets to empty as people took refuge in their homes to stay safe. The book shows vehicles of all sorts but also shows lovely moments of connection, of toys being delivered or taxis stopping to get someone with lots of grocery bags.
Floca tells us in his Author’s Note that he created these images during the pandemic’s height in New York City. As the streets emptied, he found solace in drawing the vehicles that continued to move through the city. He then took those images and made them into this book, which explains the aching melancholy of some of the images as they show the empty streets and the vast change to a normally bustling city.
A beautiful yearning look at New York City in 2020 with plenty of interesting vehicles to explore. Appropriate for ages 3-5.
October 13, 2021
Written and illustrated by Brian Floca, Keep The City Going is a picture book about the people who now run the streets as COVID put everyone under lockdown for much of last year. These people are essential workers: grocers, doctors, delivery folks, garbage-collectors, and so on. Like so many, Floca became one of the many who praised the people who continue to serve their city during the ongoing pandemic and meant to give a sign that everyone appreciates their presence and how a return to normality will be soon.
The real winning aspect of this book are the illustrations of the many views of the city through the activities of the hard-working essential workers. Each person, and their surroundings, are given enough details that the images can act as an ongoing wallpaper of the city. Though by the author's admittance, he also wanted to fully invest in drawing out the numerous vehicles present on the streets too. The writing is simple, though I think could be improved, but still inspirational to many who are taking caution with the outside. This book is a real salute to every essential worker out there!
The real winning aspect of this book are the illustrations of the many views of the city through the activities of the hard-working essential workers. Each person, and their surroundings, are given enough details that the images can act as an ongoing wallpaper of the city. Though by the author's admittance, he also wanted to fully invest in drawing out the numerous vehicles present on the streets too. The writing is simple, though I think could be improved, but still inspirational to many who are taking caution with the outside. This book is a real salute to every essential worker out there!
October 4, 2021
Keeping the City Going is one of my top favorite choices for winning a 2022 Caldecott medal. It is a heartfelt work based on Floca's observations of New York during the early pandemic days. The book is a wonderful tribute to the essential workers. I overheard a hospital worker tell Mr. Floca at a recent book signing how much the book meant to her. For essential workers and most New Yorkers, this title is very personal to us. Almost like a journal with drawings. New York was hit so hard with the pandemic. Amid all the fear and uncertainty, there were heroes out there. A lot of them. The doctors, nurses, service people in so many different fields, showed up and performed their duties so the rest of us would be safe. Brian Floca conveys this very well. He even notes how at 7pm we would make noise outside our houses and apartment windows and balconies to show appreciation for the hospital workers. Every person, vehicle, you name it, is rendered meticulously in ink, watercolor, goache and acryclic. I truly love Keeping the City Going. It is a timely, remarkable work.
October 11, 2021
Brian Floca's strength is definitely not writing, but his very strong illustrations really help this book along. He captures that really freaky still moment in March and April where busy cities became so quiet. I like that he focuses first on the people in helping jobs that aren't as high profile as doctors. The people who bring us food, drive buses, and pick up trash are so vital to our lives; and jobs that were never high-risk suddenly became so. I think this would be a good lap read, especially with a kid who likes to spend a lot of time with the pictures.
May 14, 2021
Wonderfully detailed illustrations and a pensive yet hopeful tone are on rich display in this picture book highlighting the role of essential workers of all types during the pandemic.
November 12, 2021
Brian Floca’s compelling and colorful illustrations partner wonderfully with this earnest text about all the people who worked through the shut-down phase of the pandemic, keeping grocery stores, restaurants and hospitals open, keeping transportation moving, and keeping deliveries of food, essentials and items that maybe weren’t so essential (“We won’t do that again.”) coming to people’s houses. The book is a tribute to the intrepid people of NYC and other cities who kept things going, often at much sacrifice, and to those who stopped to appreciate those people. I’m not sure children will remember the details of life in the months following February, 2020 today. This book might help them remember, but its value might lie in the book’s ability to inspire appreciation for the unsung, relentless workers who are endlessly “essential.”
May 12, 2021
I actually didn’t realize this was about the pandemic when I requested it from the library. Evie picked it last night from our stack and then I choked up just reading the book jacket. The same people keep our cities going every day, but during the pandemic many of us were lucky to get to be at home. The book and detailed illustrations honor the essential workers who took care of us, delivered food, kept the internet going, etc. Evie had to finish my thoughts a few times because the end hit me hard.
I love that it’s essentially a history book in the form children’s book.
I love that it’s essentially a history book in the form children’s book.
December 1, 2021
I always love Brian Floca's work and the only reason I'm not rating this higher is that I suspect it may not age (already hasn't aged?) well. It captures a very narrow period of time and place where people are quarantined and/or experiencing a pandemic lockdown. (Of course, this will probably happen again with future pandemics, so maybe this book will be more timeless than I think...?)
Anyway, it's very urban and is a wonderful tribute to essential workers. There are no politics, either (everyone is masked outside but there is no commentary on it or the policies—just implies they are in place).
Anyway, it's very urban and is a wonderful tribute to essential workers. There are no politics, either (everyone is masked outside but there is no commentary on it or the policies—just implies they are in place).
June 6, 2021
Beautiful and really informative. I love any picture that takes places in the NYC obvi, this one has lots of beautiful illustrations. It also shows the sacrifice and hardship done by those still working while "everyone" was staying home. Really good for kids to learn about this!!!
November 27, 2021
This is a lovely children’s picture book that describes the first few weeks of the covid 19 pandemic and how it affected the city of New York, and yet all of the essential workers continued to do their jobs. The illustrations were very well done.
June 9, 2021
I loved this story of camaraderie! I also love that we have children's story about the pandemic where the ultimate message is that of resilience.
July 2, 2021
A lovely book about the experience of COVID 19 for kids. It didn’t focus on fear or harsh realities, and instead recognized the essential workers.
October 20, 2021
pandemic, shout out to essential workers 2022 caldecott?
November 20, 2021
Lovely and a great story about the pandemic
January 29, 2022
A quiet picture book about the essential workers who kept the city going while everyone else stayed home at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Beautifully illustrated.
January 31, 2022
This is a picture book honoring the essential workers who continued working during the 2020 Covid-19 shut down. Floca chronicles a time period and focuses on the everyday heroes, then gives them a big thank you. A useful picture book to talk about the workers who keep working through a crisis and include in units about community helpers. A hopeful community affirming picture book!
September 27, 2021
Another picture book featuring what it was like to live during Covid. This one set in New York City. Will particularly resonate with children in NY who experienced these same events.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 206 reviews