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Vendela in Venice
Vendela has long been fascinated by Venice, where the streets are canals, the cars are boats, and the houses are palaces. Finally her father takes her on a special spring trip to the city, which turns out to be every bit as fairy-tale-like as he has promised. Vendela visits her special friends, the four golden horses in St. Mark's Basilica. She hunts winged lions, meets a terrible dragon, and explores colorful candy stores and samples almond-syrup milk.
But there are more floods in Venice every year. Will it still be there when Vendela grows up?
Vendela in Venice offers a wonderful introduction to the excitement of travel, art, and culture. Inga-Karin Eriksson's lovingly detailed illustrations of Venice will fire the imaginations of young readers and their parents whether they read the book at home or take it along on a trip to Italy.
But there are more floods in Venice every year. Will it still be there when Vendela grows up?
Vendela in Venice offers a wonderful introduction to the excitement of travel, art, and culture. Inga-Karin Eriksson's lovingly detailed illustrations of Venice will fire the imaginations of young readers and their parents whether they read the book at home or take it along on a trip to Italy.
93 pages, Hardcover
First published October 12, 1999
1 person is currently reading
64 people want to read
About the author
Christina Björk
18 books28 followers"I was born in 1938 in Stockholm, Sweden, and I have been living there ever since. I love this city, built on some small islands between lake Mälaren and the sea. It’s a city with lots of water and trees and a lot of nature all around it.
I lived and went to school at the island Kungsholmen, just like my good friend and illustrator Lena Anderson. But our school was so big that we never met. I was the only child and got a lot of love and attention from my parents. Every night my father told me a story he had invented, often about my teddy bear, Nalle, and my toy monkey, Jakob, who flew away on my bed-carpet during the night."
Christina Björk's books have been translated into more than 20 languages.
I lived and went to school at the island Kungsholmen, just like my good friend and illustrator Lena Anderson. But our school was so big that we never met. I was the only child and got a lot of love and attention from my parents. Every night my father told me a story he had invented, often about my teddy bear, Nalle, and my toy monkey, Jakob, who flew away on my bed-carpet during the night."
Christina Björk's books have been translated into more than 20 languages.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
February 20, 2023
Of course, due to the 1999 publication date of Vendela in Venice (titled Vendela i Venedig in the original Swedish), the factual information and details author Christina Björk (and by extension also translator Patricia Crampton, who by the way, does an absolutely fantastic textual job and an interesting, flowing and also delightfully personable and sweetly relatable English language text for Vendela in Venice, and with Vendela in Venice in fact being a Batchelder Award nominee for 2000) have main protagonist and narrator Vendela (who sounds like she is probably nine to twelve years of age and for and to me totally and wonderfully a true kindred spirit) provide about both the Italian Lire and about Venice's flooding issues are both naturally a bit out out date. For yes, there is for example no more Lire as currency in Italy since the adoption of the Euro and that unfortunately the flooding concerns plaguing Venice have sadly become considerably worse recently and not so much due to the overuse of groundwater by industries anymore as is mentioned in Vendela in Venice but more due to global warming and rising sea levels and which was simply not so much as yet a topic of universal concern in 1999, and not to mention that there are also no mentions in Vendela in Venice regarding too much tourism, too many cruise ships and that the bibliographical and details for visiting Venice and also Stockholm at the back of Vendela in Venice are bien sûr not post 1999 and must thus be approached, considered and also used accordingly and with the proverbial grain of salt.
However, if one takes the above mentioned (and nature of the proverbial beast) datedness into account, Vendela in Venice is (at least in my humble opinion) an absolutely, a totally spectacular and lovely middle grade introduction to Venice, to both its history and to its many sightseeing attractions, and not just the Venetian landmarks either, but also places like Harry's Bar and the history behind this, and with Vendela providing a sometimes a bit densely penned but always delightfully educational and also entertainingly fun running commentary on everything Venice and how and why she and her father (with whom she has travelled to Venice to visit the city for a week) are such total and appreciative fan. And indeed, my only really mild and entirely personal pet peeve in fact is that reading Vendela in Venice kind of makes me feel rather majorly jealous of Vendela and of the oh so wonderful relationship she obviously has and enjoys with her father (since no, I certainly did not really ever have this during my own childhood, and I do have to wonder if Vendela, and also if the author, if Christina Björk, whose text for Vendela in Venice is clearly based on her own childhood and on her own family experiences even realise how blessed and how lucky they are and how Vendela's trip to Venice with her father beautifully but also rather painfully shows the kind of vacation I always wanted to experience as a child but never managed to, as no one in my family except for me was actually interested in visiting European landmarks like Venice for their history, their museums and the like).
But yes, for and to me, (and even with my bits and piques of envy) five hugely glowing and shining stars for Vendela in Venice, and with Inga-Karin Eriksson's illustrations, as well as the many photographs giving a visually enchanting, stunning but also never overpowering aesthetic mirror to and for Christina Björk's text (and also Patricia Crampton's translation), highly recommended and suitable for children from above the age of eight or so onwards (but also that Vendela in Venice is for actually and in fact ANYONE wanting a delightful and educational basic introduction to Venice narrated by a young girl whose passion for Venice is enchanting and whose enthusiasm is wonderfully and sweetly addictive, and that while I have read Vendela in Venice on Open Library, I definitely now do want and need my own personal copy to read again and to pore over and through time after time).
However, if one takes the above mentioned (and nature of the proverbial beast) datedness into account, Vendela in Venice is (at least in my humble opinion) an absolutely, a totally spectacular and lovely middle grade introduction to Venice, to both its history and to its many sightseeing attractions, and not just the Venetian landmarks either, but also places like Harry's Bar and the history behind this, and with Vendela providing a sometimes a bit densely penned but always delightfully educational and also entertainingly fun running commentary on everything Venice and how and why she and her father (with whom she has travelled to Venice to visit the city for a week) are such total and appreciative fan. And indeed, my only really mild and entirely personal pet peeve in fact is that reading Vendela in Venice kind of makes me feel rather majorly jealous of Vendela and of the oh so wonderful relationship she obviously has and enjoys with her father (since no, I certainly did not really ever have this during my own childhood, and I do have to wonder if Vendela, and also if the author, if Christina Björk, whose text for Vendela in Venice is clearly based on her own childhood and on her own family experiences even realise how blessed and how lucky they are and how Vendela's trip to Venice with her father beautifully but also rather painfully shows the kind of vacation I always wanted to experience as a child but never managed to, as no one in my family except for me was actually interested in visiting European landmarks like Venice for their history, their museums and the like).
But yes, for and to me, (and even with my bits and piques of envy) five hugely glowing and shining stars for Vendela in Venice, and with Inga-Karin Eriksson's illustrations, as well as the many photographs giving a visually enchanting, stunning but also never overpowering aesthetic mirror to and for Christina Björk's text (and also Patricia Crampton's translation), highly recommended and suitable for children from above the age of eight or so onwards (but also that Vendela in Venice is for actually and in fact ANYONE wanting a delightful and educational basic introduction to Venice narrated by a young girl whose passion for Venice is enchanting and whose enthusiasm is wonderfully and sweetly addictive, and that while I have read Vendela in Venice on Open Library, I definitely now do want and need my own personal copy to read again and to pore over and through time after time).
September 25, 2024
Excellent way to become familiar with the city of Venice and the sites and history you may come across.
October 26, 2024
A lovely travel book for children of all ages!
April 5, 2016
I learned more from this children's book about Venice than anything else I've read and watched about Venice so far. It is very informative and I liked how both real photographs and drawings were used. Great for all ages interested in Venice.
January 12, 2008
Vendela, a young girl from Stockholm, visits Venice with her father. This is an adorable book with lots of pictures and information about Venice and Venetian history.
June 5, 2022
This book was written to give some historical background and tourist information for a young person vvisiting Venice. Since I am about to go there, I read it and enjoyed it a lot. It is a book for a certain niche. I am not sure how many people would enjoy it unless they were preparing for a trip to Venice or had already been there. It was an illustrated story of a 9 or 10 year-old girl on a trip to Venice with her dad. There was a strange chapter that was about the girl getting a fish bone stuck in her throat and needing medical care, but the rest of it was interesting and applicable.
October 2, 2023
I read this book in preparation for our trip to Italy. My great aunt gave it to our daughter Leah 23 years ago before she went her first trip with me to Venice. It’s the story of an 11-year old girl from Sweden who goes to visit Venice for the first time and is particularly enchanted with the horses on the top of St. Mark’s Cathedral. Leah was 10 at the time she read it and she loved it. So did I on this go round!
November 28, 2020
En bok som har allt!
July 15, 2021
Sehr nettes Buch für Kinder über Venedig. Altersmäßig würde ich es aber eher ab 8 -10 Jahren empfehlen.
June 1, 2024
The Swedish adult author recounts a trip she took to Venice with her father when she was a child. Informative and charming with beautiful illustrations that capture and complement the text.
April 19, 2013
if you know linnea in monet's garden, this is the same author and has sort of the same premise. vendela is about 10 and goes to visit venice with her dad who adores that city. she explores it thoroughly in this richly illustrated tale. this would be a great warm-up for a trip to that magical place.
however, i can see this book being best appreciated with a skip in generations. there's just a certain folksy quality that would be harder to share between kids and parents. so, grandparents, if you're reading this and taking your grandkids (who are about vendela's age) to venice, share this book with them before you go, but don't just throw it at them, hoping to distract them from a screen. it won't work that way.
however, i can see this book being best appreciated with a skip in generations. there's just a certain folksy quality that would be harder to share between kids and parents. so, grandparents, if you're reading this and taking your grandkids (who are about vendela's age) to venice, share this book with them before you go, but don't just throw it at them, hoping to distract them from a screen. it won't work that way.
October 31, 2013
Genre: International.
Awards: Batchelder Award Nominee.
Grade level: K-2
This book would teach the students about travel, art, and culture. After reading this I would have the students draw a picture of somewhere they hope to visit and for the 1st and 2nd graders have them write where they want to visit and why in a few sentences. I want this book in my classroom to introduce students to international literature at an early age!
Awards: Batchelder Award Nominee.
Grade level: K-2
This book would teach the students about travel, art, and culture. After reading this I would have the students draw a picture of somewhere they hope to visit and for the 1st and 2nd graders have them write where they want to visit and why in a few sentences. I want this book in my classroom to introduce students to international literature at an early age!
October 17, 2013
I think my own review may have been three stars, but my girls loved this book so much that it earned an extra. It is very beautifully illustrated, and a perfect introduction to the city of Venice--I'd say it's a must-read if you plan on traveling there with children. (I have no such immediate plans, but my girls sure do now!)
I wish the translation into English was a little smoother!
I wish the translation into English was a little smoother!
March 15, 2009
It was a very creative book, and it was really adventurous!!
I'd recommend you to read it!
I'd recommend you to read it!
February 19, 2016
Sightseeing and history of Venice wrapped around a trip.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews