Monday, January 9, 2012 Nonfiction Monday: Look at that
building! A first book of structures by Scot Ritchie 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 goo