Blocks,
cards,
sand,
sticks.
No matter what the materials are, children love to stack and build. The new picture book, Dreaming Up: A Celebration of Building by Christy Hale, is sure to help them reach to even greater heights.
Picture a lovely illustration of children building with different materials accompanied with a intriguing shape poem that describes what they are doing. Now turn the page and there is a full color photograph of a real building that mimics the ideas from the play version, bigger and bolder than you can imagine. It just takes your breath away. This is the format for Dreaming Up.
The back matter contains full descriptions of all the buildings included in the book, as well as short biographies of the architects who created them. You will definitely appreciate these pages.
As you would expect from Lee & Low Books, the pictures and places reflect the diversity of our world. They also show, however, the universal appeal of certain activities.
How to use this book? Let me count the ways. First of all, you will want to have building materials on hands before having children read this because they are going to be inspired to create. At the very least have some art supplies so they can draw pictures of structures they would like to build. The book would be a wonderful introduction to the career of architecture (and construction) for career days. It could also be used to accompany lessons in art history, geography, etc. The possibilities are endless.
Looking for a fiction book to pair it with? Try one of our favorites. Roberto, The Insect Architect by Nina Laden.
Dreaming Up: A Celebration of Building by Christy Hale
School & Library Binding: 40 pages
Publisher: Lee & Low Books (October 2012)
ISBN-10: 1600606512
ISBN-13: 978-1600606519
Book was provided electronically for review via NetGalley.
Nonfiction Monday is a blogging celebration of nonfiction books for kids. We invite you to join us. For more information and a schedule, stop by Booktalking to see who is hosting each week.