The first thing one notices about this book is its structure. It is actually two books that share a single back cover. The blue book is a drawing of Manhattan's West Side. The red book is a drawing of Manhattan's East Side. The author, Matteo Pericoli, begins both books where The Bronx ends and Manhattan begins in the middle of Henry Hudson Bridge. The author names churches, parks, and neighborhoods. The drawings point out streets like West 155th St. The author tells about his initial difficulties while trying to draw the skyline from the park; he couldn't see the buildings. He decided to take a boat ride all around the island to get the full view. He points out architectural masterpieces like The Chrysler Building alongside unimportant items such as a fire escape, at least four water towers, and the street his friend lives on. Pericoli describes the boat ride as "a tour that didn't tell me what to look at. it was all there." He could see the pretty and the ugly, top to bottom. This book showcases the size of Manhattan: a total of 44 pages of skyline. In the second half of the book, The East Side, Pericoli instructs his readers to examine their own surroundings the way he has. He tells the reader to look out of their window and draw everything there. Even though one may think he/she knows the surroundings so well, drawing it adds an entirely new understanding. Pericoli says the scenery will "have become yours." Students will originally be interested in this book because of it's unique structure. However, they will read it and see a city in a way it's never portrayed, by the skyline. This book may inspire them to look at their world differently, and even draw it including the important and the minuscule. ( )