An impressive collection of Art Deco buildings resides in Miami Beach! With bold lines, simple shapes, and vibrant colors, these buildings are appealing to children (and adults) and offer a great way to identify an architectural style and learn about a new city. DECO DESIGN: Miami Beach Style, a children's picture book, will delight, inspire, and educate children with beautiful photographs of historic buildings, Deco details, simple identification methods, and lively rhymes. This book is a simple yet sophisticated presentation of Art Deco elements using both photographic details and long shots of the buildings. Each page spread shows a different architectural term that identifies the Art Deco style. A key with drawings of each detail is included, and the end text encourages the reader to go back to each page spread to find all the Deco features that each building might have. The last page gives a list of all the buildings, their dates of construction, and their addresses. A kind of search and find book, DECO DESIGN teaches children how to observe and appreciate their surroundings. "Architectural historian Hill demystifies Miami Beach's art deco-style buildings in her fifth book for children. Hill uses a simple rhyming text and full-page color photos to draw young readers into an exceptionally authoritative and engaging picture book that begins: "In Miami Beach, buildings have a special flair. / Colors, lines, and shapes are the elements they share." The book goes on to show and describe elements seen on 16 buildings in that seaside Florida city. Buildings, for example, are often painted "cotton candy" colors like pink and blue or have protruding sun shades known as "eyebrows" above windows. They may also make use of glass blocks, wave or fountain motifs, or "shiny metal railings." At the end of the book, an interactive element reminds children of architectural details they've seen and encourages them to go back to the pictures of buildings and see how many they can find. The backmatter also includes a list of the featured structures and their addresses, which could help families create a self-guided tour. This book might have benefited from an extra page showing a few art deco buildings that children may already be familiar with in other cities—especially the Empire State Building—but it is so rich in information, clearly and attractively presented, that it succeeds handsomely on its own terms. An unusually appealing and child-friendly introduction to art deco architecture in one Florida city." - KIRKUS REVIEWS (starred review) "Reading this children's book is like taking a walking tour of Miami, minus the heat and exertion. Written in simple rhyming language and featuring photos of prominent Miami Beach Art Deco buildings like The Carlyle and The Crescent, the book highlights Art Deco elements and introduces terms like "terrazzo floor" and "ziggurat" with clear, concise examples. Beginning with a photo of the pastel-colored Webster, Hill writes: "In this place on the seaside, blue and sandy / buildings are the color of cotton candy." Another spread features wavy horizontal lines on a building, noting "Like waves coming ashore, they do not connect. / Horizontal lines make this Deco effect." An architectural historian and photographer, Hill highlights a key design component in each verse and concludes with a visual summary of all the Art Deco details, prompting children to go back and find multiple features in each photograph. There's also a list of the buildings included, with their addresses and the architects who designed them. With a polished presentation and a fun, down-to-earth narrative, this is an outstanding introduction to Art Deco style for kids.—a greater appreciation for the unique buildings of the area." - Booklist/Blue Ink Review (starred review)