Travel is on my mind, as we head to Singapore, trailing my husband on his business trip. I am making a note of some of the places I can explore with my four-month old tot, ‘kangaroo style’. That’s when I came across these lovely city guides designed especially for children – Zig Zag City guides. Definitely on my wish list for the future!
The brainchild of Alana Zawojski Ippolito, who conceptualized these as part of her graduate thesis project at the Academy of Art University (San Francisco), these guides pictorially capture cities from around the globe.
So far these guides are available for a few cities only – San Francisco, Rome, Paris and New York. London and Chicago guides are on the anvil.
I love the fact that these guides are not fact-filled travel manuals. Instead, two characters Zig and Zag (aptly named!) help kids explore a city, through note cards.
Rather than bombarding kids with copious amounts of information, the cards provide interesting descriptions that kids can retain. The guide further piques a child’s interest by asking them to answer questions, draw or take a quiz. The illustrations done by San Francisco artist Jayde Fish add tons of character to these cards.
Ideal for kids aged 5+, these are available at several stores in the US, and online at http://societemercantile.com
We wish Alana all the luck, as she strives to take these guides places! What cities would you like to see Zig Zag City guides for?
Photos by: Zig Zag guides
Leave a Reply