THE CAPITOL

An introduction to the U.S. Capitol and all the people who work there.

Well, not all—but interspersed with glimpses of the public halls and chambers, Ward lines up gallery after gallery of tiny, individualized, racially diverse people. Each of the dozens of figures, from vice president to speaker of the house, sergeant at arms to plumber, comes with a job title; for some, brief explanations of their duties are provided. A plotline involving three brown-skinned children (whose parents work at the Capitol as a mason, a U.S. senator, and a tour guide) pursuing an elusive kitty provides a pretext for the tour and is linked in the backmatter to a note about a ghostly cat long said to haunt the building. A list of additional facts at the end supplements those scattered throughout, and the author invites young viewers to take closer looks at the carefully drawn scenes to spot the cat and other features, such as the compass stone on the floor of the Crypt. Readers tantalized by the much quicker tour in Lynn Curlee’s Capital (2003) will pore over this series opener. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

An informative guide for future young visitors as well as armchair tourists.