Vendela in Venice

This is the best child's book I have seen so far. I read it to my 7 year old son and I loved it as much as he did. I have been to Venice and I learned a lot of new things that I did not know. The story is interesting in a travelogue sort of way and the illustrations are wonderful and varied. The only similar book that comes close would be The Three Golden Keys about Prague. As a previous reviewer stated it would be great if there was a book about every city like this. Although a child's book it is quite substantial, beautifully produced, and well worth the money.

My 8 year old son read Vendela over and over before we went to Venice. His familiarity with the city made our trip - he recognized sites from the air on the way in based on the book! The author weaves facts and history into the narrative so we didn't realize until there how much we had learned about history, art, statues, bridges, cats, lions, and getting around -- my son even figured out where we were lost one time based on an illustration he remembered. We based much of our visit on what Vendela had done, since it felt familiar (and magical for dad & boy). Vendela is part of our scrapbook now; terrific book. I wish such a work were available for every city. Beautiful illustrations, too!

I bought this for our upcoming trip to Italy, hoping that it would help my six-year-old daughter (and me!) understand a little more about Venice. Vendela made this city come alive for us both and left us breathless for more! The illustrations are fantastic, and the travelogue style of writing helped us feel that we were really there. Vendela has a child's honesty about the poor upkeep of her hotel room, the endlessness of museum trips, and the price of Venetian glass. But nothing ultimately dampens her enthusiasm for the magic of the city, and now we can't wait to see for ourselves the glassworks, the vaporetti, the play of the light on the canals at night. A splendid book!

Vendela is little girl who goes to Venice with her father. It is kind of gross (when the fish heads are cut off, and when the toilet seat falls off at the really old hotel), but it is magical too. Their hotel has a window looking out on the Grand Canal, and Vendela gets a diary from her father that has a different picture of Venice on each page. She writes a diary about the gold horses on Saint Mark's Cathedral (their lives and adventures). I liked the picture at the end of the book of her toy monkeys that got married! (The girl monkey has two right arms and legs!) Vendela takes a picture of every single lion in Venice--even a tiny one on the cafe wall that shows how high the flood water came up. (The lion is the symbol of Venice.) Venice sounded really fun when I read this story, and, guess what? I'm going there this spring!!

Vendela in Venice is a wonderful, "state-of-the-art" children's book. My daughter's 3rd grade teacher was particularly interested in Italy, and used the book for half the year for reading as well as art project inspiration (children re-created the gold horses in St. Mark's Square). The book is beautifully illustrated, and also includes real photographs of Venice - the graphics are stunning. The story is great, it is the story of Vendela, who visits Venice with her father (who says, " ..every child should go to Venice, because Venice is a fairy-tale city."). The book is packed with information about the city - from art & architecture to glass-blowing, history of Venice and the problem that Venice is facing currently (sinking!). The story is told from Vendela's perspective (she is around nine or ten years old), and so amusing - it is fun to read. All the great information is given along with the story of her trip and the things that happen to her (for instance, the time she gets a fish bone stuck in her throat and they have to pay a visit to the emergency room). I've bought two copies so far, and I'll be picking up more for birthday presents throughout the year - terrific book!