THE GREAT NEW YORK SUBWAY MAP by Emiliano Ponzi.  New York: Museum of Modern Art, 2017.  36p.  ISBN 978-163345-025 hc. $19.95      Gr. 3-5     JUV NF

If you ride the subway system in New York - or anywhere in America, you'll find your way from place to place by using a color coded map that displays all the available train routes.  People use it all the time, but how was it developed?  A graphic designer named Massimo Vignelli, an immigrant from Italy, was approached by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to simplify and improve the subway map.  After researching the problem for some time, Vignelli was inspired by a plate of spaghetti noodles to feature subway routes with colored lines, while reducing the sizes of landmarks and stations.  After some back and forth discussion with the transit administrators, the streamlined and easy-to-read maps were approved for use in 1972.  With some variation by region, the colored line map concept is still used today.
Lynette Suckow, Superiorland Preview Center, Marquette, MI