Berlin-based illustrator and picture-books maker Marc Majewski understands bridges' potential for uniting us, both symbolically and in the everyday sense. He has gathered together 23 notable bridges around the world, each showing a way that bridges serve us: Bridges link countries and continents, mark history, stand firm, provide inspiration, blend in (a double-decker bridge in India made from living plant roots), and more.
With captivating illustrations, he gives us each bridge's name, country, and qualities. Bow Bridge in Central Park, for instance, is a low pedestrian bridge, "one of the most romantic spots for New Yorkers." We see the bridge's interlocking-circle design, the variety of people pausing atop it to embrace each other or take in the view, the gorgeous autumn foliage as a backdrop. A pigeon rests on one man's wrist, bringing a smile to his face. The dogs in this picture — a dalmatian eagerly alert at the bow of a row boat and a large fluffy dog with his paws on the capstones so he can look over the bridge's edge— add a special touch of delight.
Majewski includes the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, as an important landmark of the civil rights movement. He provides fun facts, like that the Woman's Bridge in Argentina — which rotates — was inspired by a couple dancing the tango. He even shows how bridges influence art, using impressionist painter Claude Monet's Giverny Japanese footbridge as an example.
He closes with the main point: "All over the world, bridges connect ... us!" Then he provides two pages of further intriguing facts for more avid readers, giving this book a scope beyond its recommended reading age of four to eight years.
