Thanks to Quarto Publishing for a free e-galley. I enjoyed this I Spy book! The images are beautifully done and it would be a great activity book especially for adults and older kids. However, I definitely think it would be better appreciated by Americans. I also wish I learned a little more about each state from the pages — more words, maybe?

Still, great pictures and would make for great I Spy action!

This is a cute little book. It would be fun for a toddler or preschooler. I was thinking it might be a more difficult book to hold the attention of my older kids, but they wouldn't be interested in this. I really hope that the author decides to do a more advanced version of I Spy the 50 States for older kids as well!

What a joy it was partaking the journey being led by a bald eagle across the 50 states that comprise the USA. Being neither a child or a citizen of the country I nevertheless found a surprising number of new and informative things I was not aware of. Although with the digital edition I was of course unable to "peep through the hole" this did not detract from my overall enjoyment. I'm sure that the I spy educational technique will appeal to the target audience and will lead the child to the next knowledge level. The images were also indicative and inclusive of the diversity of the peoples, history and culture of the state under review.

My main criticism would revolve around wanting some more facts with particularly reference to the name of the state capital and name of the official state bird and flower also the inclusion of the state flag would have been interesting to have. Overall though I believe for a young child this will be a most useful educational addition both in the home and at school.

Very cool book! Kids will love this and it is perfect for learning about different states or taking on a road trip. The pictures and font make the book fun and enjoyable for all readers.

I am honestly not sure who will love this book more: will it be the children or the adults who are either looking at the book with them or grab the book to look at on their own? The illustrations are so appealing, friendly and engaging. The two-page spread for each state captures the spirit of that state and its special attractions. And, of course, I Spy is a fun game. Add this one to your shelf and delight in the glories of the USA.

I SPY THE 50 STATES is a perfect little guide to introduce kids to the whole U.S.A., through a colorful board book format with holes you peek through as you page through. Illustrates each state with the people, landmarks and qualities that make each state sing. Also includes one item in common with the adjoining state, adding a helpful connecting piece. Highly recommended!

Pub Date 02 Aug 2018

Thanks to Quarto Publishing Group - Wide Eyed Editions and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are fully mine.

#IspyThe50states #NetGalley

This book is fun and one that can help keep kids occupied in the car. While you are driving through many different states, there are things that they can search for. Forget taking electronics and other items to keep kids busy. This book is full of little facts and fun snippets of information. Kids will enjoy searching for the items on their list as you travel through different areas. Fun places to stop, find and more!

Talk about a whirlwind tour of the 50 states! In Sharyn Rosart's I Spy the 50 States, each state has a page of its own. Key landmarks, plants, foods, or other distinctive (OK, many not-so-distinctive) features are shown in simple illustrations, about 15-20 per state. Some are labelled, some are not. Most make sense, but almost every page had one or two unlabelled illustrations that left me scratching my head.

Each page has a "I spy" challenge, with three things starting with the same letter. I can see this as an activity book for very young nonreaders who have someone reading to them. Adding a little interest is a hole to the next page, although in most cases it's just an eagle; there's a bald eagle on every state's page except Hawaii.

I Spy the 50 States is fun and colorful, and captures some of the highlights of each state. But it's not terribly informative. I would see this as level 1 of learning about the states. Kids will want to move on to level 2 and 3 and 4 to learn more about our great nation. (I'm not thinking of a particular book, just pointing out the very basic nature of this one.)

Gather the toddlers in your lap for an armchair cross-country tour!


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

I am a teacher-librarian who loves getting information about the 50 states into my I Spy-loving students’ hands. This book has some great things going for it, and some that just missed the mark.

I love that each state has an entire page dedicated to it. The illustrations are modern and colorful, and many highlights of each state are mentioned and labeled in some way (special shout-out to Wrigley Field in Illinois!). I also liked the added touch of putting each state’s nickname on the page. While it may not be something that people need to know, it still provides an extra fun fact.

A few things that caught me off guard: first, the organization. It took me a few pages to realize that the book was traveling east to west, but many students won’t realize this, since their world view tends to barely extend outside their own city, let alone their own state. A simple solution to this? Have a page that introduces each region of the country with a list of the states in it. This would make it easier for students and teachers alike to be able to navigate to a specific state’s page. A cool idea, and it also explains why there are so many identical looking birds in the book.

Overall, I was really excited to preview this book and consider it as a purchase for my library. While I still think it will be a hit with my students, there were a few parts that with slightly more effort would have made this a knockout. Thank you, NetGalley for the ARC!

The I Spy idea is great, but some of the clues were so vague that I had trouble finding them. Also, it would have been SO cool if the author had thrown in a tidbit about why the three I Spy items were important to that state. For example - I lived in Illinois for a large portion of my life. One of the I Spy clues is Sue, the T-Rex. She just so happens to be located right below the I Spy clue, making her easy to locate. However, there’s no other information about Sue, where she’s located, or why she’s so important. To anyone outside of the Chicago area, this factoid will be lost. Also, the “sculpture” clue. I’m guessing The Bean is the answer, but again, if the reader has not been to Chicago and seen the Bean in person, they may not know that this is indeed a sculpture and not a gray legume.

The last thing that confused me was the circle on each page, which I found out from another reader is some kind of peek at the following page in the physical copy of the book.

Very visual, perfect to use in class with kids. Using the “I spy” game to analyse the images, it describes each state and what’s typical from it. Really useful.

When gas was cheaper, people would often go on road trips across America. There was even the commercial that sang "See the USA, in your Chevrolet." And what did one do on road trips? Play "I Spy" games, if you didn't bring a book to read.

So, I like the concept of this book, but it is poorly executed. As some other reviewers pointed out, some things are labeled, other things aren't. Some things are drawn so poorly you can't tell what they are. And the I Spy part of it will name things like "Horseshoe Crab" but the I Spy will say, "I spy something that begins with C".

Here is New Hampshire.

<img class="alignnone wp-image-812 size-full" src="http://www.reyes-sinclair.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Screen-Shot-2018-08-02-at-11.16.41-PM.png" alt="I spy 50 states, New Hampshire" />
Delaware
<img class="alignnone wp-image-811 size-full" src="http://www.reyes-sinclair.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Screen-Shot-2018-08-02-at-11.16.59-PM.png" alt="I spy 50 states-Delaware" />  
And New York.
 <img class="alignnone wp-image-808 size-full" src="http://www.reyes-sinclair.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Screen-Shot-2018-08-01-at-4.32.53-PM.png" alt="50 states I spy-New York" />

But here, I am going to help you with California, being a second generation, and having lived here my entire life, so far. From top, going left to right. Golden Gate Bridge, Apple Computer Mac, Wine (for Napa, Alcatraz (which they could have shown as an island because that is the coolest thing about it, rather than it just being a prison.), Clapboard, a reference to the movies, and a pick and shovel and gold, which is what brought most people out here in 1849.

Sacramento, Palo Alto (the tree for which the city is named), Pacific Ocean, a bald eagle, somewhere, some bird that is not the state bid, and the Hollywood sign.

I presume this is a brown bear. It could be the bear ont he flag, which is actually extinct, some basketball and baseball guy. (there are several teams int he state of both), An orange and sour dough brea, the boardwalk at Santa Monica (where I have never seen surfers.)

Last row, I promise. Death valley with a Joshua Tree, California quail, the state bird, the mission in San Juan Capistrano, some hill somewhere, above which is a salt flat, which I didn't think we had, but it appears to be the dried lake in Death Valley which doesn't lok anything like this picture, a Hollywood star, a bad drawing of a poppy (they have four petals, not five) and some lake somewhere, which might be lake Tahoe, but who knows.

And what do they spy with their little eye? A sequoia tree? I have them in my backyard, they don't look like that.
<img class="alignnone wp-image-825 size-full" src="http://www.reyes-sinclair.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Screen-Shot-2018-08-03-at-11.51.45-PM.png" alt="I spy 50 states-California" />

So, if I have this much trouble with the book imagine kids trying to figure out what they are looking at.

I think this should have come with a reference, which the kids could have looked up what each picture meant, with a little history about said image.

but that is just what I feel. Perhaps this would work for others.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

This is from an advance review copy for which I thank the publisher.

Fifty States in Fifty Pages! This is intended as a print book, but all I merit as an amateur reviewer is the ebook, which is fine because I love trees far more than I love print books, but it doesn't quite work as the author intended because one of the treats of the print version is a spy-hole through which you get a glimpse of the next page so you can try to guess at your next destination. These spy-holes are represented by little red circles in the ebook.

The tour begins in New England and proceeds from there and a linear and switchback fashion. On each double-page, a state is represented with many small and colorful pictures by artist Sol Linero, and the author writes a few words. I think she had the easier job! The words are a tease because you have to find three things she names, each starting with the same letter. This worked fine until we reached Vermont, the third state in the trip, where I was told to find a Sugar Shack, a snowshoe, and a sleigh. I found the first two, but there ain't no sleigh in Vermont! I had to wonder if the fishing lure was mistaken for a sleigh up in the top right corner, or if a snowboard was mistaken for one at lower left?

The rest of the pages I checked (not all of them!) I didn't see any such issue with, and maybe I'm blind that I can't see the sleigh. There are so many pictures, it might be easy to miss something. I haven't been to all fifty states, but I've visited many and lived in several, and it was nice to be reminded of some of the things I'd seen there. The book is fun, and colorful, and offers a lot of things to keep a child's interest. I commend it as a worthy read and a great distraction on a long trip!

Thank you NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group - Wide Eyed Editions for this DRC book.

I was intrigued by the premise behind this book...
A picture book with 'I Spy' games on every page to learn more about the States...
I was expecting a sort of "Where's Waldo" of monuments and attractions throughout the US.
I feel a bit deflated by what I got.

The pictures were like looking at abstract art...which is awesome...unless you are trying to "spy" certain things in the mix and then it just gets frustrating.
---I'm looking at you Tupelo Tree in Tennessee. Had it not been labelled I would have assumed it was a orange flavoured soft serve ice cream cone.---

I would have liked to see them stray away from trying to get everything to start with the same letters and use the proper terms for things instead. I feel it's important to use the correct names and phrases when educating children.
Using generic words like flower, apple, bridge, and sculpture really don't play into what each of those states are known for. Which flower is famous there? Which apple are they known for? What sculptures and bridges can be found here?
There were so many things I think they could have went into more detail or included in this to make it more of a learning experience for kids and adults alike.
It feels like a bit of a rush job.
If you look at it as a weird art experiment I give it a pass.
Not something I will be giving to all the tiny humans in my life.

Fun and informative, interactive resource for the age range. Cute illustrations that compliment to text.

Cute

A fun way for kids to start learning about states and some of their facts.

I voluntarily read an advanced copy.

This is a fun little book designed to teach young kids facts about the fifty states and give them a head start when it comes to American geography. The illustrations are bright and colorful to really draw kids in as they explore all fifty states.

Review to be posted on my blog during my vacation time (mid-August), and will be posted on all sources after my vacation (in September).

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Oh my! A cute board book about the US.

Each double page tells us about one state in the US. From New Hampshire to . Each page is filled to the brim with blocks and within those blocks images that feature items, plants, buildings, historical events, etc. from that state. It is quite simplistically done, but I still like it. Maybe some things could have a bit more information (like how some images get a name), as some items are a bit of a mystery to me. I just couldn't figure out what they were. Like me, during New Hampshire pages. Is that a broom? And what kind of creature is that underneath the broom? It seems familiar? Why is there a cup on that rock? And other states also had a few items I just couldn't recognise or understand what they had to do with the state.

As you could have guessed from the title of the book, you are going to be looking for a few items on each state's page. For instance with Massachusetts. Find items that begin with a B. Baseball, Boston Common, Beach. It was quite fun and it made the book a bit more interactive and interesting.

The whole there is one thing that the next page has in common with the current one was fun, though it took me a bit too long to get why there were circles around things. :P I guess it works well in the physical copy, but the ecopy it just looked like someone loved drawing circles in pink (or is it red, can't see it clearly on my screen). But it is a nice idea, and I am sure that I would love it if I would see it in a physical copy. Just a shame so many times it was an eagle. :| I get that the eagle is the symbol of the US, but come on. Lazy much? Maybe instead of saying that there is one item (eagles are not an item), just tell people to follow the copy-paste eagle as he flies through the US.

Also was it needed to list all those state capitols? Is that some kind of American thing that needs to be shown all the time? They were at least different buildings (though a few looked like twins). I just feel that one or two would be fun, or the most special ones, and then focus more on other things.

The art was OK. Very simplistic as I already said, and I did think it was a shame there was so many copy-paste. At times I went back and forth between my ecopy (not easily done as Adobe is a crappy program), and indeed, various images were exactly the same. :| And yes, this is a children's book, but that is no excuse to me.

So yeah, I still quite enjoyed myself, but I will rate the book lower due to the points I mentioned (the copy-paste art, the continuous eagle, the repetition, the art at times a bit too simplistic that you can't recognise items).

In this cute children's novel, we are taken on a journey across the United States by a bald eagle. The reader is given one page full of images for each state and asked to find three things that begin with a certain letter. This is something that seemed to be an attempt at making I spy educational, but did not fully make it there. One page of images does nothing to teach a child about the state. The images are bright and colorful, but I found many that were repeated throughout. I do love the diversity in this story. There is a great representation of both men and women of different races. I was confused by the pink circles. There is a pink circle on each page but it does not seem to make sense. There is no clear pattern to take away from it.

In the end, this is a colorful and interactive story but is meant more for entertainment than educational purposes. My seven year old enjoyed finding the various things while my two year old loved looking at the images. This is a book that can be used for many things, that can grow with your child.

M kids love reading non fiction books. So, when there is some good ones, I make them read them to me to learn! This was a good one since we travel a lot. We learned about other states as well as our own!

As a Canadian, I was excited to read I Spy the 50 States because I thought it would be a fun way to learn more about my neighbours to the south. Unfortunately, I was left pretty disappointed.

Using a bald eagle as a guide, we travel through the 50 US states to learn fun things about each state. The pages themselves are charming; each state is given a two-page spread that features a collage of different items (industry, tourism, recipes, animals, etc.) that are unique to, or representative of, that particular state. Fun, right? Except that the images are somewhat stylized and not all are labelled so it's not always possible to even figure out what something is or why it's important to that state.

As far as the main selling features of this book, they both fell flat for me. The "I Spy" aspect was really quite difficult at times, both because of the stylized pictures and due to the overwhelming vagueness of some items to be found. A couple of times I was even left wondering if it's possible that some of the names for things mean something entirely different in Canada -- "sleigh" and "bowl of chili", I'm lookin' at you! (Actually, I'm not, because try as I might I could not find you.)

In addition, the "spy through the hole" feature was a bit disappointing. The idea is that each page has a hole in one of the images to show you something that the current state shares with the next state. Except that there was no real rhyme nor reason to how this was decided. Sometimes it was literally the exact same little picture on both pages, other times it would be something like wood slats on a covered bridge that became walls to a sugar shack (not exactly things that both states share), and every other page was simply a hole where the bald eagle was, which seemed like sort of a cop out since the book opened by telling us that the bald eagle is native to 49 of the 50 states.

It appears that this book is part of a large group of books using the same illustrations to share facts about the 50 states. If those other books include actual labels or lists or descriptions of what these images are (and why they're important), then I could see how this would be a good complementary read. Otherwise, I struggle to know who to recommend this to because unless you're already familiar with the states and what they're famous for, you might not be able to figure out what the heck you're supposed to be learning.

1.5 disappointed stars rounded up.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group - Wide Eyed Editions for providing me with a DRC of this book.