Underground: Subway Systems Around the World

PreS-Gr 3--This search-and-find book offers details about underground railway systems around the world. Full-page spreads feature bright, colorful illustrations with unique travelers and will keep the attention of young readers. Ten cities are covered in the text, including Beijing, London, Madrid, Mexico City, Moscow, and New York. The text offers numerical and historical facts about each city--some facts offer opportunity for comparison between railway systems (the year they opened; number of stations); others are unique to one particular system. On the final pages of each city profile, readers can enjoy a seek-and-find game. A glossary provides more information about some of the items found in each seek-and-find activity. VERDICT This title, with its light informational approach, will likely circulate better in seek-and-find collections than nonfiction sections on trains and transportation. Recommended for libraries where such titles are in high demand.--Brittany Drehobl, Morton Grove P.L., IL

A Where's Waldo? for lovers of trains and travel, this look-and-find by Brooklyn-based illustrator Kim takes readers into bustling subway systems in 12 of the world's great metropolises, from New York City to Sydney, Australia... Children will love searching for these beautiful foreign items while indulging in the common kid obsession over locomotives. 

The blocky, highly stylized art is especially appealing, and a glossary at the end briefly explains the seek-and-find objects. Underground provides an entertaining, highly visual experience that delivers a global context to subway ridership. - Shelf Awareness

This is such an engaging way to introduce underground transportation to kids. I could see this being used as part of a geography unit, or a unit on transportation, or a fun book to take on a trip to a big city to compare what you see with what is in the book. - Kids Lit Life

Not only does this book show famous subway systems from international locals like London, Mexico City, and Bejing but it's also a search-and-find book. Kids will love the bright, colorful cartoon illustrations. I know I do! - Imagination Soup

Underground is a charming, fact-packed, seek-n-find book. This book is suitable for two through six-year-olds. The words are very readable and making this a good book for train-obsessed kindergartners and first graders. The illustrations are bold and colorful with an Asian feel. The facts include things such as "two hundred and fifty miles - length of the network (London)," and "one point six six two billion passengers per year (Mexico City)." The pages are designed to be easy to explore and can be read individually. The seek and find feature is well designed so that younger kids can be easily entertained for a few minutes. Toddlers and preschoolers are well suited to seek and find pages. The items that are to be found are special to the city. For example, the page on Sydney, Australia makes you find a Koala, Boomerang, Surfboard, and more! This book is good for young train lovers among us. - Kids Book Buzz

What's so delightful is the illustrative style being as it is highly stylised, rather jolly-looking and often humourous: in the final city of Tokyo - where the network transports '3.1 billion passengers every year: the busiest subway in the world!' train guards can be seen sweating with exertion attempting to squeeze passengers in whilst forcing doors shut! But did you know that whilst clearly very busy, Tokyo's underground is also ranked as number 1 in the world for cleanliness and punctuality?
Perfect for any transport enthusiast, this would make a lovely addition to any key stage 1 classroom and would also be really useful for dipping in and out of to support children develop skills of retrieval! - The Literacy Tree

 I love the cartoon illustrations and how the objects are hidden so cleverly in between train cars or behind passengers. The art is brightly colored, and there are tons of little details in each scene that make it special and interesting.
I am really impressed with how this book is organized. Some of the pages are cropped so that you can flip to see the people inside of the subway trains. It's a smart and effective design. - Luminous Libro

In Uijung Kim's fabulous and attractive book, young readers will learn about some much beloved subway systems in 10 international cities, as well as getting a feel for some of the cultural heritage of Seoul, Madrid, New York, London and many others. Every section features a colourful fold-out of each city's subway train and there's a seek and find feature which tasks children with spotting 10 local foods, famous people, sports items and other things associated with that city. For instance, in Moscow, we're asked to find a balalaika, a Faberge egg, a matryoshka doll and St Basil's Cathedral, among other classic Russian things. Kim's graphic, fun illustration brings subway systems to life for little ones at a time when many of them are obsessed with trains, trucks and cars - a perfect read at home and on the go! - Booktrust

I found Underground was great fun for adults as well as children! The illustrations are bright, busy and hugely visual with a naive style children would love. Underground appeals to children of many ages because the facts and figures are themselves interesting, and there's enormous potential for research into geography and culture through the places included. Similarly, the glossary affords language development and international appreciation. I had no idea, for example, that carved Mandarin ducks are given as wedding presents in Korea. I found it quite tricky to spot some of the hidden items to be found and I think this is an excellent feature. It teaches children patience and observation whilst being fun. There are opportunities for numeracy development too, perhaps counting the people in the train, or for younger children the number of dogs featured, or maybe people with glasses. Underground is a book with a simple premise but considerable potential beyond its initial intention. I was impressed. - Linda's Book Bag

Filled with stats and facts Underground is a vibrant and informative read with plenty to spot along the way. - Picture Books Blogger

RECOMMENDED TRANSPORT CHILDREN'S BOOK*: A tremendously fun look at 10 different subway systems around the world. An ideal book to share for children aged 4-9. - School Reading List 

There's a fantastic and rapidly growing branch of non-fiction that caters specifically for younger kids who still prefer amazing visual presentation mixed in with their facts and figures. In fact in "Underground" by Uijung Kim, the text is purposely kept to a minimum as we take a journey across the globe to visit all the amazing places that have built public transport systems underneath our feet. We loved this book, it cleverly uses brilliant and yet simple design to convey the excitement of riding the underground (weirdly aside from the Northern and Victoria Lines, it's one of the things I miss most about living in London). A fab little book this, and another brilliant title in Cicada's increasingly essential early years non-fic range. - Read It Daddy