A little girl travels from the comforts of her own home to the far reaches of the universe. The journey begins in Maria's house and then moves outward to the street, town, country, continent, hemisphere, planet, solar system, galaxy, and, finally, the universe. With each new widening perspective, children can explore the vastness of the world around them as they discover their own special place in space. Margery Cuyler's accessible text and Yu Cha Pak's richly detailed illustrations offer an intriguing introduction to geography and astronomy for the youngest armchair traveler. Grade 1-2-"My name is Maria Mendoza. I live with my father, my mother, my baby brother..." at a particular address, on a particular street, in a particular town and state (Texas), and so on outward to the far reaches of the universe. For this three-sentence affirmation of location-and self-the illustrator fills her allotted space with bright colors and simple, solid-looking shapes, beginning with a half-length view of the young narrator, pulling back on successive spreads until only a great swirl of galaxies is visible, then coming full circle for the confident conclusion: "From here to there, my name is Maria Mendoza." Pair this with Robin Hirst's My Place in Space (Orchard, 1992) or, for a more fact-oriented journey, with Joan Sweeney's Me and My Place in Space (Crown, 1998). John Peters, New York Public Library Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. A little girl named Maria Mendoza describes where she lives in an ever-widening series of addresses: "in the town of Splendora, / in the county of Liberty, / in the state of Texas . . ." going all the way out to "the universe and beyond." This type of book has been done before, for example, in Istvan Banyai's Zoom (1995) and the even more similar Me on the Map , by Joan Sweeney (1996), but it's a concept worth repeating. Pak combines watercolors and pastels for a richly colored, luscious effect, with each picture expanding to fill the page just as the story expands. The objects depicted are kept to a minimum, so children can follow the sequence easily, finding the previous page's place in the next picture. Susan Dove Lempke The scope of a girl's world broadens in this simple book that introduces the scale of existence, in a game of identity and location that most children have played. ``My name is Maria Mendoza,'' the intimate text begins. ``I live with my father, my mother, my baby brother, Tony, and my older sister, Angelica at number 43 Juniper street.'' Maria goes on to name her place in her town, county, state, country, continent, hemisphere, planet, solar system, galaxy, and universe, knowing that as small as it may be in comparison, her immediate world is significant. She is still Maria Mendoza, ``from here to there.'' Cuyler's plain text is laden with meaning for new readers; she allows them to draw their own conclusions, which they will. Pak's bright colors and perspective help children keep track of Maria's place in the universe, and with folksy familiarity, take the vistas from local to grand. (Picture book, 3-6) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. This enlightening journey is both a meditation on humanity's small place in the universe and a celebration of each person's immutable individuality. ( Publishers Weekly ) Pak's bright colors and perspective help children keep track of Maria's place in the universe, and with folksy familiarity, take the vistas from local to grand. ( Kirkus Reviews ) Margery Cuyler is the author of many books for children, including The Little Dump Truck, That's Good! That's Bad!, and the chapter book Weird Wolf . Ms. Cuyler grew up in the oldest house in Princeton, NJ, and started writing stories as soon as she learned how to write. She now lives in the same house with her husband, sons and two cats. Yu Cha Pak was born in Seoul, Korea, where she studied classical Oriental art before immigrating to the United States. Ms. Pak is the illustrator of Benito's Dream Bottle , by Naomi Shihab Nye. She lives in Houston, Texas. Used Book in Good Condition