Visit Milwaukee: In Real Life, and in a New Picture Book!

It's summer tourist season and Milwaukee is waiting to welcome you. Ever since I first arrived in Wisconsin to attend Marquette, the downtown area won my heart. In my first years here, Summerfest was launched as a soggy lakefront music festival.  It has since become the annual "World's Largest Music Festival" and anchors a summer-long series of ethnic and themed festivals, drawing millions of visitors from around the USA and the world.

Sleeping Bear Press, 2019

Each and every one of these (and other) events features kid-friendly activities.  Even so, I urge families to check out a recent picture book before and during visits to the city. ROCKY & LULU in MILWAUKEE is written by Barbara Joosse and illustrated by Renee Graef. This talented pair is noteworthy for individual achievements, including many award-winning and classic books (Joosse's MAMA, DO YOU LOVE ME and  PAPA, DO YOU LOVE ME; Graef's many LITTLE HOUSE picture book adaptations, and illustrations for titles in the nonfiction Alphabet series). These two are close and longtime friends from the Milwaukee metro area who enjoy traveling together as much as Lulu and Rocky do. This is their first title in a planned series about other cities, published by reliable Sleeping Bear Press. Because I know them both I was picturing the fun they must have had in doing the background work for this book.

The story opens with an invitation to the pair (and Lulu's friend Pufferton, a penguin) to visit Milwaukee. They meet doorman Norman at the luxurious landmark Pfister Hotel, then spend three days exploring iconic locations in MIlwaukee's city center. 

The characters are all delightfully humanized animals, each more charming than the next, but the sites featured reveal kids-eye-views of some of the best year-round attractions this city has to offer. The text is direct but not simplistic, and Norman's comments offer some fun examples of figurative language from an earlier generation.

The level of detail is "just right" for young readers, with informative labels and enough color and side details to spark curiosity and develop an appetite for exploration. 
This lively pair (and observant penguin) cover a great deal of territory in a short amount of time, which happens on vacations, right? 
Out-of-towners with kids would do well to spend some time with this book prior to a visit and encourage the young ones to state a preference for side trips. Most won't be able to stay at the Pfister, but it does offer tours, including stories about ghostly residents!  Back matter provides accessible details about various high points and icons visited throughout the story.

Once families get their hands on this book the adults will be as enthused about visiting Milwaukee as the kids will be. In fact, I encourage classroom teachers and local families to check it out, too. I'm sadly aware from leading school field trips (for many ages) that there are thousands of people living within a few miles who rarely visit downtown and are unaware of its many treasures. 
Milwaukee offers something for everyone in every neighborhood and district. Summer isn't the only time to explore the city, but it does offer an ideal opportunity to get to know it better, or for the first time.
And there's no better souvenir (or gift of any kind) than picture books!