Welcome to Arizona (Welcome To)

by Asa Gilland (Illustrator)

Overview

Welcome to Arizona! Whether they're locals or visitors, young readers will love this bright, cheerful, fact-filled picture book celebration of "The Grand Canyon State."

With information about the state's animals, plants, regions, food, people, customs, and fun places to visit, this tribute to Arizona is the perfect gift for vacationers and residents alike.

The warm, bright illustrations highlight the many delights to be found throughout the state, and the easy-yet-informative details ("Arizona's state mammal, the ringtailed cat, is not a cat! It is a member of the racoon family") give just the right amount of information to kids from preschool on up.

And it makes a great "welcome!" gift for house guests!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593178218
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	01/05/2021
Series:	Welcome To
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.25(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.28(d)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

ASA GILLAND is the illustrator of the "Welcome to" series of picture books about the US states. Her art has also appeared on stationery, textiles, and home decor. Asa's father was a cartographer and he and Asa would always make time to search out interesting sites and explore their surroundings. Asa has lived in seven countries and loves to travel near and far with her two sons. Learn more about her work at asagilland.com and follow her on Instagram at @asagilland.

Editorial Reviews

2020-11-18
Arizona is more than a desert, and its desert is more than sand.

From the Grand Canyon to a rich array of wild plants and animals, this Southwestern state is brimming with nature’s treasures. Basic identifying information, such as the state flower and motto, is introduced in tandem with popular tourist attractions, such as the food and the Four Corners Monument. This entry in the Welcome to… series celebrating the states offers detailed, whimsical illustrations to accompany the scattering of pertinent factoids across the pages. (Companion titles on California, Florida, and Texas publish simultaneously.) Regrettably, the humans depicted are all greeting-card cute and identical in their stylized, round faces; racial difference is indicated only via skin color and hair color and texture. Also concerning is the design decision that places a Diné (Navajo) family producing traditional crafts (with nary a modern convenience in sight) directly after the dinosaurs and before Grand Canyon wildlife. The saguaro is featured, but there is no mention of the Tohono O’odham who have been harvesting the fruit for millennia—with the exception of a brief inclusion in a laundry list of Native peoples. Traditional Mexican/Mexican American and Native foods are displayed on a double-page spread with absolutely no allusions to the peoples or cultures. The underlying dismissal of Arizona’s rich pre-Anglo history is implicit in both design and execution. (This book was reviewed digitally with 8-by-16-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)

Marginally informative and painfully superficial. (Informational picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews