[dhosek]

The author undercuts his claims when he writes:

t’s true that some popular picture books do seem to have a suburban setting: Victoria Kann’s Pinkalicious series (2006-), the Berenstain Bears series (1962-) by the Berenstain family, and Norman Bridwell’s Clifford the Big Red Dog (1963-) come to mind. But these books also come to mind when I consider books I’d rather burn than read – not because they take place in the suburbs but because they’re so poorly written and illustrated. My only claim here is that the best children’s books forgo suburbia.

Just thinking about my kids' favorites of late and the Ladybug Girl series is set in exurbia and Mac B Kid Spy is set in suburban California when he's not flying off to England and elsewhere in the service of the Queen of England.

[yellowstuff]

He also counts the Curious George books as being not suburban, which might be true of the original series, but there's a reboot by different authors that has a suburban feel. George drives around in a car, and goes to places like a pancake breakfast and a chocolate factory that don't seem to be in Brooklyn. These books aren't great, but my son likes them, as well as most of the other books that this article has committed to the flames.

[dhosek]

The Margaret and H. A. Rey books are frequently not urban as well. There was one where George borrows a pump from a nearby farm to try to clean up the mess he made with ink. There is no consistent geography in the books.