Beth Anderson, Children's Writer

Perfect Picture Book Friday! Look down, deep down, into the depths of the underground…

Title: The Street Beneath My Feet
Written by: Charlotte Guillain
Illustrated by: Yuval Zommer
words & pictures, 2017, nonfiction
Suitable for ages: 5-8

Themes/topics: Earth, cities, underground

Opening: When you’re walking along the city streets there’s always so much to see and hear. Cars and buses roar past and honk loudly. People chatter and shout to each other as they go to work and do their shopping. The store windows are colorful and bright.

But do you ever stop and look down?

Brief synopsis (from barnesandnoble.com)
This double-sided foldout book takes you on a fascinating journey deep underground. One side of the foldout shows the ground beneath the city, whilst the other side of the foldout shows the ground beneath the countryside. The scenes in the book, by the widely-acclaimed illustrator Yuval Zommer, are continuous, so contrasting underground sections, from tunnels and pipes to burrowing creatures, layers of rock to the planet’s molten core, run seamlessly into the next. Mixing urban and rural settings, as well as Geology, Archaeology and Natural History, The Street Beneath My Feet offers children the opportunity to explore their world in a detailed learning experience. And its fold-out, ‘Laperello’ style, which extends to 2.5 metres in length, is great fun to spread out on the floor and really get involved!

Activities and Resources:
Make a list of occupations that work “beneath your feet.”
Divide objects pictured into natural and man-made.
Compare and contrast the underground of the city and countryside.
Choose one idea from the book that you’d like to learn more about.
Choose another place or object to explore and create your own cutaway illustrations and text for an accordion book.

Why I like this book:
The more I look at it, the more I like it. The format and detailed continuous illustrations make an impact – there’s a lot going on down there! With just enough information to amaze and intrigue, the text doesn’t bog down a young reader. I think it’s a book kids would go back to over and over. In a classroom, it would be great with multiple levels and using Bloom’s taxonomy.

Visit author Susanna Hill’s Perfect Picture Books for a plethora of picture books listed by title and topic/theme, each with teacher/parent activities and resources.