Lucy in the City
One night, Lucy the raccoon follows her family out of their den, headed for the best garbage bins in town. Distracted by a jar of peanut butter, she gets separated from her family. How will she ever find her way back to her family and her cozy den?
With the help of a friendly owl and his bird's-eye view, Lucy tunes into the world around her and navigates herself home!
Reading this book with your children will help them develop their own spatial thinking skills — how we think about and understand the world around us and use concepts of space for problem solving. Early exposure to spatial concepts can help foster this type of cognitive development in children and boost their math and science learning as they progress through school.
Includes a Note to Parents, Caregivers, and Professionals with more information about spatial concepts, as well as questions, games, and activities designed to encourage children's spatial thinking skills.
Julie Dillemuth, PhD, is a spatial cognition geographer and children's writer. She is passionate about writing picture books for children that help develop spatial thinking skills. Her stories have appeared in Highlights for Children and Odyssey magazines.
Laura Wood's work can be found in picture books and magazines. By day, she likes to go in her studio to draw animals and little people. By night, she likes to put her dancing shoes on and lindy hop under the stars. There are three different places on this planet she calls home: Bristol, UK; Melbourne, Australia; and Treviglio, Italy.
First-time author Dillemuth's encouraging tone and Wood's easygoing cartoons emphasize Lucy's capability and independence, even in a frightening situation, and appended materials and activities invite readers to consider their own neighborhood surroundings.
—Publisher's Weekly
Resources from APA
- Spatial Thinking Activities (PDF, 2.1MB)opens in new window
- Teacher's Guide (PDF, 497KB)opens in new window
- Watch the author read Lucy in the Cityopens in new window. Interested in this book? Purchase a copy to continue (or start) the conversation with the children in your life.
Resources from RIF
This book is part of the "Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) Social Emotional Learning Collectionopens in new window"
Books in this collection are accompanied by free resources, including puzzles and word games, designed to enhance both literacy skills and socioemotional engagement of young readers.
Visit the RIF Lucy in the City pageopens in new window for these resources.
Criss cross puzzle
Word search
- Word Search (Easy)opens in new window
- Word Search (Medium)opens in new window
- Word Search (Hard)opens in new window
