Zoe Sophia's Scrapbook

Book Review

Zoe Sophia's Scrapbook: An Adventure in Venice By Claudia Mauner and Elisa Smalley, illustrated by Claudia Mauner Chronicle Books Hardcover, 40 pages ISBN 0811836061 US $14.95

Venice is a wonderful city for children, for reasons that we've described in our Venice for Families article. And now, thanks to authors Claudia Mauner and Elisa Smalley, your kids can enjoy a preview of Venice and a lasting souvenir of their trip with Zoe Sophia's Scrapbook.

Zoe Sophia is a plucky nine-year-old girl from Manhattan's Upper West Side who flies to Venice with her dachshund Mickey to visit her expatriate great-aunt. During her one-week stay, she and her aunt tour museums, take a gondola ride, visit a glass factory on the island of Murano, take Mickey to an opera at La Fenice, feed the pigeons in the Piazza San Marco, enjoy hot chocolate at Florian's, and have other adventures--including the loss (fortunately not permanent) of Mickey the dachshund.

Zoe Sophia's Scrapbook is an engaging story, and the delightful illustrations make the book even more appealing to Venice fans of all ages.

For more information on Zoe Sophia's Scrapbook, including sample illustrations and favorable reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist, visit the authors' Web site at ZoeSophia.com.