Katie Burke: Urban Playground

Katie Burke discusses her new book Urban Playground: What Kids Say about Living in San Francisco.

Praise for Urban Playground

“In this charming, warm-hearted, often very funny book, Katie Burke takes us into the minds of children—a place we should all spend more time! Not only a wonderfully insightful kid’s eye guide to San Francisco, Urban Playground is also an interactive manual for getting into the minds of your own—and your friends’—children. Reading its sweet—and sometimes quirky—interviews, is to see San Francisco with the freshest eyes possible.”—JANIS COOKE NEWMAN, author of A Master Plan for Rescue

“If you’re seeking the honest truth from kids, you will find few better resources than Urban Playground, by San Francisco writer Katie Burke. Burke’s StoryCorps-like interviews, quoting kids on everything from pupusas to Pride Week, reveal that the Bay Area remains a fertile ground for smart, confident, and fun-loving kids. Says a seven-year-old girl who’s on the road to becoming an archaeologist, ‘It usually takes about maybe a month or a year to dig up one dinosaur.’ After reading this book, I wouldn’t be surprised if she or another San Francisco kid figured out how to dig one up sooner!.”—SALLY SMITH, Editor and Co-Publisher, The Noe Valley Voice

“Children make the best tour guides. In Katie Burke’s lively Urban Playground series, young city-dwellers share how they experience all aspects of city life, from restaurants, holidays, people, and parks to pets, schools, sports, shops, and activities. Their observations are moving and thought-provoking, and reveal what makes a city interesting and unique. This book will appeal to adults and kids who wish to see (and re-see) San Francisco.”—CHRISTINA CLANCY, author of The Second Home

About Urban Playground

Rural areas cover 97 percent of the United States–yet more than 80 percent of the US population lives in urban areas. What is life like for the millions of children who populate our nation’s cities?
In Urban Playground, Katie Burke interviews fifty children, ages five to nine, who live in San Francisco. In each conversation, she explores one of ten different themes–family, school, pets, vacation, work, heroes, holidays, favorite foods, talents, and sports–followed by insights on the topic. She rounds out each segment with five questions for adults and kids to discuss after they’ve read it together, encouraging open, honest dialogue about young readers’ thoughts on the subject matter at hand. Future books in the series will expand into other major U.S. cities. Fun, accessible, and interactive, Urban Playground is an important window into the ways children in cities think about and describe the most important aspects of their lives–which is every aspect of their lives.