The City of Streets · ages 9-14

The Shop That Wasn't There

The idea: grid references and map scale.

Read it

Who is in this book

Inkling a child of the Green Names what she notices
Plot A grid reference names the column first, then the row from MapForge
Inset A map's scale turns a distance on paper into a distance on the ground from MapForge
Beto a child of the Green Takes things apart
Bearing Turn the map so its north points to the real north from MapForge
Danya a child of the Green Asks "how do we know?"

Every recurring character has a short tune, so you can tell who is on stage before a word is said. The tunes play only when you tap, and the Reading Access sound switch turns them off.

The Honest Page

Which parts of this story are true, stretched or made up?

True

Many maps give a grid reference with the column letter first and the row number second. Source
At one centimetre to a hundred metres, three centimetres on the map is three hundred metres on the ground.
You set a map by turning it so that its north points to real north. Source

Stretched

Three hundred long steps is about three hundred metres. What we simplified: A long adult stride is close to a metre; a child's step is shorter, so a real walker would count more steps.

Made up

The City of Streets, Chart Street and the people who live there are made up.

Tell it back

Tell the story in your own words: who was there, what went wrong, and what they found out. Then a brass key from Chart Street, first on the company's ring goes on your belt.

Ring the hammer for someone

Pick this book for someone younger. The link carries only the book, and it will wait for them on the Green.

Across the Table → For the grown-up: the story in three lines, one question to ask, and one thing to do together.