Beginning with foundations, each spread takes the group of friends through the parts of a building as they research buildings on their way to and at the library, planning to build a doghouse. The book finishes with instructions on building a house with marshmallows and popsicle sticks.
The text is easily understandable by young children and does a good job of explaining the basic elements in a building; foundation, frame, support beams, columns, roofs, etc.
However, I was disappointed by the pictures. The cartoon-style illustrations didn't give the amount of detail I would have liked to see and although each of the five children are identified by name at the beginning, it's difficult to remember which is which, especially because the featured child, shown in a small inset in the text, does not match the child being talked about in the text, whom you have to hunt for in the pictures.
Verdict: Not as good as Ritchie's first book, but still a solid explanation of structures for the very young.
ISBN: 9781554536962; Published September 2011 by Kids Can Press; Review copy provided by publisher through Raab Associates
2 comments:
Hi Jean, I'm glad that you shared the things that worked and did not work for you in this book. Since I live in Singapore now with all these beautifully-constructed edifice and tall tall buildings, I thought that reading this picture book might give me a rudimentary idea of structures and such. :)
It is a good really basic introduction, but I'd recommend David Macaulay's architectural works for older readers - this is really, really basic, like for 5 year olds.
Post a Comment