These books were really cool to look at for both adults and kids. There are a lot of details and fun things to look at.

This fun book to public transportation introduces readers to the subway; light rail transit; buses, and ferry boats as five different characters head to a mutual venue in the imaginary city of Zoom. Robbie is a 7 year-old boy visiting the city; a secret agent, Theodore Rybka, is on a secret mission - but loves to stop for a cup of tea; the Zanies are a family of digeridoo and juggling performers; Dr. Brody is a scientist, excited about her newest discovery, and Boris is a seeing-eye dog who takes good care of his companion. Maps, facts, and a diverse urban crowd make this a good additional purchase for transportation shelves.

I feel dizzy when I read this book. Too many details in the illustration. T.T
But what I love most is the relation between Zoom and the city I live in. So, I feel relatable. :)

Readers are introduced to five different people or groups of people and follow them on their travels around town using different public transportation methods from bikes to ferries to subways to buses. The book introduces readers to the basics of the different methods of transportation and shows how five different groups can use very different routes and methods of public transportation and end up at the same spot in the city.

This book covers most of the different methods of public transportation available in the average big city. And it does so in an engaging way by introducing different groups of larger than life and interesting characters to illustrate possible combinations of public transportation usage. Don’t expect to come away from the book necessarily knowing how to use the different public transportation methods though. The book doesn’t cover how to tell which train on a subway line to take or bus to take, etc. And that is usually the most challenging part about public transportation, so I was a little disappointed that this didn’t go there. (Once you figure out one subway system/bus system you can pretty much use any system in the world. Believe me, I had a crash course when I moved from Ohio to Seoul, South Korea. It can be quite dizzying at first. But since then I’ve been able to successfully travel around London, Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong, New York, etc easily.) To me figuring out which train to hop on or bus to snatch is the most vital component of learning to use public transportation. Granted, that would have required more pages but I think it could easily have been incorporated. So the book does a good job on the what public transportation is and the various forms it can take, but doesn’t really cover how to use it sufficiently. If you’re just looking for the what aspect or teaching kids about different transportation methods, snatch this up. It is fun and engaging for that. If you’re looking for a book that teaches kids about using public transportation, you’ll need to keep looking.

Succinct information about public transport with wonderful illustrations perfectly weaved in the range of short stories, a glossary for those 'difficult' words and quirky characters - all which was needed to make this short book interesting, light-hearted and a fun read!

This book was super enjoyable and entertaining as well as educational. It is rare to find a children's book that includes public transit, and certainly not to the extent that this book describes. The pictures were colourful and interesting to look at for both adults and children and all of the little pieces of information helped to add to the overall story. The diversity and inclusion in this book were also very nice to see and it was done well.

Very informative with a glossary for young readers to peruse. Must have for all elementary school libraries.
Not sure about the spy storyline.

I found this book very confusing and hard to follow the pictures.

The Way Downtown by Inna Gertsberg is a wonderful book that teaches about public transport in the city. The book covers details about several aspects of public transportation; such as, tickets, trams, trolleybuses, modern light transportation trains. The illustrations are wonderful. They are simple but interesting through the transportation and maps. 

Throughout the book the reader "meets" a few families as they take public transportation. A couple of the families are; the Zanies are street performers who take public transportation where they perform on the didgeridoo and juggle and Dr. Brody takes a ferry to go to work each day. The maps, explanations of the sights and sounds are useful to kids. The book even gives advice on what to do if someone gets lost. The pictures are both helpful and hilarious. 

I received this ARC from NetGalley and Kids Can Press in exchange for an honest review.

Let’s start with the cover! Its buzzing interesting, there's a lot what to discover and think about, it could be any big city with Downtown.

The book is about different characters who does not meet in the story but each tells a way how they use the public transport. If I was a kid this book would keep me busy for hours and I absolutely enjoyed the way - and how easy all the "basics" about public transportation was described, all the details about different tickets, difference between public transports, it excludes trams and trolleybuses, but included the new modern light trans trains which drives without a driver.

I enjoyed the illustrations because they are simple and yet created the interest about the transport system and maps. As a kid and even now I love to study maps and transport system when I am travelling, I would ask hundreds of questions and know extra. So, as the audience are children - I believe the book is for those who can held the attention and read the story on their own! There's a lot what to imagine from the lines of the text! I think it's a good read together while travelling longer journeys on public transport which opens comparing aspect from the book to the real life - whenever the city might be.

Excellent resource for those with children who love maps, exploring and figuring things out. The illustrations can seem a little clutters at first but really reflects the public transit system that many in larger cities are familiar with.

'The Way Downtown' is a wonderfully detailed, fun and engaging book to introduce young readers to public transit. Gertsberg presents a potentially dull topic in a unique and interesting way. We follow the Zanies, Robbie, Agent Rybka (my favorite), Boris, and Dr. Brody as they all make their way downtown to Great Park. The illustrations are full of fun details, and the different transportation systems are each explained thoroughly.

This would be a great book for units on cities or transportation, for kids who are nervous about upcoming travels, or for transportation buffs. A great addition to any library.

Wow, kids, have you ever wanted to read about the many ways that you can travel by public transit in the city? Wow, kazowi.

Nope, me neither. This book was not written for me. In fact, I'm not quite sure whom it was written for. SOme of the reviews thought it was a good way to introduce kids to public transit, but no, it wasn't really all that engaging. It is a whole bunch of stories of how people figure out how to use the subway, or the buses, or taxis, or whatnot, to get around in the city. There is no excitement.

So, perhaps this is good to get kids used to using public transit, but the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/859744.The_Wheels_on_the_Bus?ac=1&from_search=true">Wheels on Bus </a> is a much better introduction, and is fun to both sing and read.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

An exceptionally brilliant book that playfully leads the way to understanding the importance and complexities of public transportation. With delightful overlapping journeys, this book invites the reader to get from here to there in the most efficient way! We read this book on a travel day from the Netherlands to the U.K. where our journey took us on trains, buses, subways and ferries. Our children delighted in the understanding the intricacies of each of these indispensable networks.

The Way Downtown would be an excellent addition to a study on travel. Following the travels and adventures of the different groups was an excellent way to reach children about public transportation. I appreciated so much about this book including the wonderful vocabulary, diverse population and story within a story. When the book was done I still wanted more. It was a great read and one I can't wait to add to my classroom library.

A picture book dedicated to showing a whole bunch of public transportation scenarios. I could see this being useful for kids moving into an urban area, children who already live there and maybe kids going to a city on vacation. 

The Zanies are a family of street performers who take public transportation downtown where they perform on the didgeridoo and juggle! Dr. Brody takes a ferry in to go to work each day, and there are other scenarios as well including a spy! I loved the maps, the explanations of the sights and sounds as I can see that being particularly useful to kids with sensory issues. Forewarned is forearmed. It even says what to do if someone gets lost. The pictures are both helpful and hilarious- we thoroughly enjoyed this one.

We chuckled at the description of the smell on the subway: " shoes and cinnamon" which may or may not be accurate in Chicago depending on the day and occupants. Sometimes it is better than that and sometimes worse. 

I read a DRC of The Way Downtown in exchange for an honest review.