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Katie
Katie in London
When Katie and her brother Jack visit London with Grandma, they don't think there's much to see and do. At Trafalgar Square they meet a talking stone lion, and he takes them on a wonderful tour of the city.
32 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
About the author
James Mayhew
138 books88 followersJames Mayhew's first book for children was Katie's Pictures Show, (Orchard Books 1989) establishing the long running series about a child's adventures in an art gallery. Many of his books have a cultural agenda and James is passionate about introducing children to art, music, opera, ballet and traditional tales.
He has published over 60 books, and illustrated and written for many other colleagues including Philippa Pearce, Martin Waddell and Jackie Morris.
As a storyteller he has devised and performed a series of sell-out concerts for children with the de Havilland Philharmonic Orchestra, and has participated in prom performances at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
He has also created designs and illustrations for the Kirov Mariinsky Opera of St Petersburg and in 1994 won the New York Times award for one of the ten best illustrated books on the year (The Boy and The Cloth of Dreams).
He has made regular appearances at the National Galleries in Edinburgh and London and visits many schools, and arts and literary festivals.
James is a member of the Art Worker's Guild and the Society of Authors.
He has published over 60 books, and illustrated and written for many other colleagues including Philippa Pearce, Martin Waddell and Jackie Morris.
As a storyteller he has devised and performed a series of sell-out concerts for children with the de Havilland Philharmonic Orchestra, and has participated in prom performances at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
He has also created designs and illustrations for the Kirov Mariinsky Opera of St Petersburg and in 1994 won the New York Times award for one of the ten best illustrated books on the year (The Boy and The Cloth of Dreams).
He has made regular appearances at the National Galleries in Edinburgh and London and visits many schools, and arts and literary festivals.
James is a member of the Art Worker's Guild and the Society of Authors.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
December 14, 2016
This was so cute! And I loved the illustrations. I'd like to think that if I had visited London as a child, I would have read this book beforehand to get myself hyped up! Evidently it's effective in hyping up an adult on her first trip to London too.
And yes, I am now thinking of collecting all of these books purely because my name is in the title. The narcissism is strong with this one.
And yes, I am now thinking of collecting all of these books purely because my name is in the title. The narcissism is strong with this one.
November 15, 2018
This book is about a little girl and her brother who go to London with Grandma. When they get to London Grandma is so tired that she falls asleep so Katie and her brother go off and explore all the sights of London.
This book is really good for cross curricular links in a KS1 classroom:
For art you could use this book to get the children to make a poster all about the sights of London - including pictures and words.
For History you could link this book to the fire of London and discuss the main events and how the fire started.
In a PE lesson you could link it to the fire of London and do lots of movements that could represent a fire spreading.
To link this book to drama you could split the class into small groups and they could do freeze frames of the main events of the fire.
Finally, for a literacy lesson you could make story boards of the events of the great fire of London.
This book is really good for cross curricular links in a KS1 classroom:
For art you could use this book to get the children to make a poster all about the sights of London - including pictures and words.
For History you could link this book to the fire of London and discuss the main events and how the fire started.
In a PE lesson you could link it to the fire of London and do lots of movements that could represent a fire spreading.
To link this book to drama you could split the class into small groups and they could do freeze frames of the main events of the fire.
Finally, for a literacy lesson you could make story boards of the events of the great fire of London.
October 20, 2019
This review is on behalf of my twin almost-three-year-old associates, whose cousin, now 12 , passed on four books that she thinks she has grown out of. Luckily for all of us, I haven't grown out of them.
I have visited London in the past with our own children, with an elderly mother, with my wife and on my own when doing research. I know most of the landmarks Katie visits, and the older granddaughter brought it home from her own visit. We have all extracted joy from the notion that one of the lions at the base of Nelson's column comes to life and carries Katie all over the place.
I have already racked up four readings, and we will be back many times. I'm still finding fresh stuff to look at in the illustrations. The book is gentle magic, shares a lot of detail, and engages all three of us. Track it down!
I have visited London in the past with our own children, with an elderly mother, with my wife and on my own when doing research. I know most of the landmarks Katie visits, and the older granddaughter brought it home from her own visit. We have all extracted joy from the notion that one of the lions at the base of Nelson's column comes to life and carries Katie all over the place.
I have already racked up four readings, and we will be back many times. I'm still finding fresh stuff to look at in the illustrations. The book is gentle magic, shares a lot of detail, and engages all three of us. Track it down!
July 20, 2019
This is a reread - i read this to my daughter many times, then to her class and two other classes when talking about London and all things British.
Tonight we reread it (my 9 year old and I) as we are about to spend 5 days in London seeing as many of the sights in the book as possible!
Love this great story adventure book as Katie and one of the Trafalgar Square lions see all the best sights of London from the Tower of London to Buckingham Palace.
Tonight we reread it (my 9 year old and I) as we are about to spend 5 days in London seeing as many of the sights in the book as possible!
Love this great story adventure book as Katie and one of the Trafalgar Square lions see all the best sights of London from the Tower of London to Buckingham Palace.
November 21, 2018
Delightful!
November 10, 2022
Breathtaking tour of London on the back of lion from Trafalgar Square.
November 3, 2025
Albo illustrato in lingua inglese.
Scrittura semplice e illustrazioni magnifiche.
Adatto per bambini della scuola primaria.
Consigliato.
Scrittura semplice e illustrazioni magnifiche.
Adatto per bambini della scuola primaria.
Consigliato.
January 3, 2015
Katie in London by James Mayhew is an absolutely delightful picture book.
It depicts all the famous London sights such as Trafalgar Square, St Paul's' Cathedral,The Tower of London, Tower Bridge, the London Eye and the Houses of Parliament.
Together Katie and her brother Jack travel with one of the famous Trafalgar lions and take us on a journey to all these places. Journeying through London's busy streets, crammed with red buses, black taxis, parks and grand buildings, we even squeeze in a visit to Buckingham Palace and see the Changing of the Guard! We see the iconic British policeman complete with custodial helmet! and at last, wearily passing the famous Harrods store, they return to Trafalgar Square where of course Grandma awakes, having missed all the magic.
The back cover, as always, contains a little gem. This time is it some fun facts about some of the sights on Katie and Jack's tour.
I can highly recommend this for your classroom's bookshelf. Not everyone will be acquainted with London and its famous sighs, children new to London will enjoy it, children who have visited these sights will enjoy revisiting them through this story, and a class teacher could use it as an introduction to a visit into central London.
5 star rating!
It depicts all the famous London sights such as Trafalgar Square, St Paul's' Cathedral,The Tower of London, Tower Bridge, the London Eye and the Houses of Parliament.
Together Katie and her brother Jack travel with one of the famous Trafalgar lions and take us on a journey to all these places. Journeying through London's busy streets, crammed with red buses, black taxis, parks and grand buildings, we even squeeze in a visit to Buckingham Palace and see the Changing of the Guard! We see the iconic British policeman complete with custodial helmet! and at last, wearily passing the famous Harrods store, they return to Trafalgar Square where of course Grandma awakes, having missed all the magic.
The back cover, as always, contains a little gem. This time is it some fun facts about some of the sights on Katie and Jack's tour.
I can highly recommend this for your classroom's bookshelf. Not everyone will be acquainted with London and its famous sighs, children new to London will enjoy it, children who have visited these sights will enjoy revisiting them through this story, and a class teacher could use it as an introduction to a visit into central London.
5 star rating!
April 3, 2013
This is a delightful story of Katie and her younger brother Jack visiting London with their Grandmother. While their Grandmother is asleep they experience a wonderful adventure when a stone lion comes to life and gives them an insiders guide to London.
This story is beautifully illustrated with the spectacular views of London and its famous sights.
The story can be used in numerous ways within the classroom. What initially comes to mind is using this story within geography and using maps of London to pinpoint the famous sights mentioned within the book. The children could possibly find out how people travel to, from and around London. Are there any examples of transport shown in the book?
Use the Transport for London site to plan journeys between places in London.
Katie, Jack and the lion encounter lots of traffic on their journey. You could ask the children what the environmental impacts of all this traffic are? How can people reduce this? The Union Flag appears in the story. You could ask the children if they find the flags of other countries.
There are lots of ideas and routes this story can take within or even outside he classroom!
This story is beautifully illustrated with the spectacular views of London and its famous sights.
The story can be used in numerous ways within the classroom. What initially comes to mind is using this story within geography and using maps of London to pinpoint the famous sights mentioned within the book. The children could possibly find out how people travel to, from and around London. Are there any examples of transport shown in the book?
Use the Transport for London site to plan journeys between places in London.
Katie, Jack and the lion encounter lots of traffic on their journey. You could ask the children what the environmental impacts of all this traffic are? How can people reduce this? The Union Flag appears in the story. You could ask the children if they find the flags of other countries.
There are lots of ideas and routes this story can take within or even outside he classroom!
May 10, 2013
Katie in London is a story which celebrates the culture and history that London has to offer. In a city with so much exciting and interesting aspects, we should encourage our children to embrace it,, and this book presents an opportunity to do just that.
Katie and her brother go out with their Grandma one day, she asks them to sit down by the Lion on Trafalgar Square and wait for her and so the fun begins! The lion comes to life! Katie and her brother are taken on a tour of the sights of London, they take in Trafalgar Square, The London Eye and Buckingham Palace in the company of their friend the Lion. Eventually they have to leave and the lion has to return to his home on the stone platform. The children worry about his cold tummy so they pop in to Harrods and buy him a blanket to lie on before they go home.
I am so looking forward to reading this book with my reception class at the end of the day and I look forward to hearing their thoughts. I expect this book will bring up the children's experiences of London and places they have been with their families. I would also use this story during geography, history and citizenship. A valuable book for any early years classroom.
Katie and her brother go out with their Grandma one day, she asks them to sit down by the Lion on Trafalgar Square and wait for her and so the fun begins! The lion comes to life! Katie and her brother are taken on a tour of the sights of London, they take in Trafalgar Square, The London Eye and Buckingham Palace in the company of their friend the Lion. Eventually they have to leave and the lion has to return to his home on the stone platform. The children worry about his cold tummy so they pop in to Harrods and buy him a blanket to lie on before they go home.
I am so looking forward to reading this book with my reception class at the end of the day and I look forward to hearing their thoughts. I expect this book will bring up the children's experiences of London and places they have been with their families. I would also use this story during geography, history and citizenship. A valuable book for any early years classroom.
April 1, 2014
Katie, Jack and Grandma set off to London to see the sights. They saw big trains, big buildings and big crowds. As they arrived at Trafalgar Square, Grandma was so tired that she need to rest for a little time. As soon as Katie and Jack climbed on the big bronze lion, he started to talk to them. They have an amazing and magical tour of London riding lion's back. They see a lot of historic spot in London, such as St Paul's Cathedral, The Tower of London, River Thames, Tower Bridge, Globe Theatre, London Eye, Big Ben, the ahouses of Parliament, red double-decker buses experience, Buckingham Palace. Children can learn and experience about London. This book describes in London detaily. If you want to go in London with your child, it is very useful to your child. Unless you can go in London, just get an information of it.
March 14, 2021
This is a fabulous book with such beautiful illustrations. It can be used in so many ways in English including adjectives, speech and diary writing for example, and also as a cross-curricular resource in Geography (capital cities and landmarks) and Drama (freeze frames for example). It follows the adventures of Katie and her younger brother Jack who take a tour around London on the back of a golden lion from Trafalgar Square. Not only is it informative about the features of the incredible city, but the illustrations allow the reader to create vivid images in their head. I loved it and really enjoyed creating a scheme of work surrounding this book!
September 25, 2018
I absolutely love these books by James Mayhew.
The adventure of exploring London with the Trafalgar Square Lion is so exciting for any child whilst your granny is sleeping. This uses the same similar concept in most of James Mayhews books when Katie whilst with her grandma and brother visit a museum, Scotland etc.
Visiting the incredible and famous landmarks that London has to offer are beautiful illustrated in this story. A beautiful story to capture any child if looking to use London as a topic or about to visit London itself.
The adventure of exploring London with the Trafalgar Square Lion is so exciting for any child whilst your granny is sleeping. This uses the same similar concept in most of James Mayhews books when Katie whilst with her grandma and brother visit a museum, Scotland etc.
Visiting the incredible and famous landmarks that London has to offer are beautiful illustrated in this story. A beautiful story to capture any child if looking to use London as a topic or about to visit London itself.
December 7, 2018
This would be a great book to read to a kid who was going to go on a vacation to London. It is a good introduction to a lot of the main sites that a family might visit on a vacation. The illustrations aren't that thrilling and I'm not crazy about the stupid lion coming to life, but the whirlwind tour is nice.
May 6, 2018
This would be a lovely way to introduce any child to London, perhaps as a way to calm nerves before a first trip or as a way to reminisce after visiting. Magical storyline and lovely, soft watercolour illustrations!
July 3, 2019
Florence and I loved reading this. Flo has it in her class at school and is excited to go to London to see the sites and to see the lion. I liked that it was geographically correct. Flo likes the bit where the Queen of England waves from the window of Buckingham Palace.
September 11, 2020
Cute book that I plan to use with my grandkids in our England unit next week.
It gives a good view of sights in London and has a great section at the end.
I wish there was more of an actual story line.
It gives a good view of sights in London and has a great section at the end.
I wish there was more of an actual story line.
January 5, 2014
The lion at Trafalgar Square must be stopped
October 16, 2017
This book takes you on a tour of London with Katie, her little brother Jack and the lion of Trafalgar Square who comes alive and is their tour guide. Love this series!
January 3, 2018
Great story with exciting illustrations, and a marvelous adventure. Recommend for all- whatever your age!
August 8, 2018
A lovely bedtime story about London for kids under7
January 14, 2019
I enjoyed reading this book to my 4 year old. It has given both my children ideas of where they’d like to visit when they go to London.
March 1, 2019
What a great sneak peak into iconic London!
We plan to visit all of these places.
We plan to visit all of these places.
May 11, 2020
used for the centre of a topic in LONDON - children loved the story and the topic
July 18, 2022
Charming tale. Katie, Jack, and a special friend see all the sights of London. This little book is extra special because my daughter bought it for me when she and her best friend went to London and Wales.
May 29, 2019
A great London book
December 3, 2021
One of our bedtime favorites. A gift from an aunt that travels there. Someday we’ll tour London just like Katie.
January 28, 2022
This is a story of a girl and her brother who end up riding a lion and explore different parts of London.
January 1, 2025
Great book with introduction to common spots in London. Asked for a read aloud every day at our house right now. And mom loves to read it!
May 8, 2009
Again, we LOVE this Katie series.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews