Iggy Peck Architect

Andrea Beaty (2007), 32 pages

Illustrated by David Roberts

Audience: pre-K

Format: picture book

Ignacious Peck is a born architect. At the age of two he was building towers out of “nappies and glue.” By age three he could build churches with steeples, temples, and more! He could build anything really using materials of all kinds from backyard dirt to apples, and pancakes … Iggy was a self-made architect. However, his success comes to a screeching halt when he meets Miss Lila Greer a second grade teacher (frightened by heights and tall buildings). She forbids any talk about architecture and upon such news Iggy’s “heart sank to floor … now second grade was a bore.” Luckily though while out on a class hike and picnic … Iggy saves the day. How may you ask? Why with shoestrings and skill … a bridge appears saving his classmates and Miss Lila Greer! With new appreciation for building ingenuity, Miss Greer happily welcomes Iggy Peck and talks of building from Rome to Quebec back in her classroom again. Full of quirky rhymes and creative verse, Beaty’s book is a gem and a great read-aloud book for adults and kids. Roberts’s illustrations are outstanding. His attention to detail, use of pattern and texture is hypnotic – long after reading you’ll pour over these pages again and again picking out new details each time. This is a book kids will go nuts for ... with just one read you’re guaranteed to fall in love with Iggy Peck, Architect!

Reviewed by: Katharine Quinn, SJSU MLIS Student

If you liked this book, you may like: Art by Patrick McDonnell, The Pencil by Allan Ahlberg, or Into the Sky by Ryan Ann Hunter

Other books by this author: When Giants Come to Play, Doctor Ted, Firefighter Ted, Hide and Sheep, and Cicada Summer

Alphabet City

Stephen T. Johnson (1995), 32 pages

Audience: toddlers, pre-K

Format: picture book

Find letters all around the city, in signs, on buildings … everywhere! Can you spot the “A” shape in the slide of a sawhorse? Or spy a “D” in outlined park planters? Does the profile of a stoplight form an “E”? Maybe a wrought iron curlicue reminds you of a “G”? Perhaps you see the letter “S” in the concrete scrollwork on the side of a building? Well, you can! Johnson has created an entire alphabet hidden in the architecture of the city. Using pastels, watercolors, gouache, and charcoal on hot pressed watercolor paper, Johnson produces a series of unbelievably photo-realistic paintings that mimic real landscape and cityscape. This Caldecott honored book is brilliant in its imagery and content! Parents and educators can use this book as an introduction to letter knowledge (alphabet recognition). Simply trace the letters with your fingers while saying the name of the letter – or use this book as inspiration and go on your own tour; walk your own neighborhood locating all kinds of shapes and letters found in the environment around you!

Reviewed by Katharine Quinn, SJSU MLIS Student

If you liked this book, you may like: Q is for Duck: An Alphabet Guessing Game by Mary Elting or Alphabet Adventure by Audrey Wood

Other books by this author: City by Numbers, A is for Art: An Abstract Alphabet, My Little Red Fire Truck, My Little Pink Princess Purse, and My Little Yellow Taxi

The Three Little Pigs An Architectural Tale

Steven Guarnaccia (2010), 32 pages

Audience: pre-K

Format: picture book

Adapting the traditional folktale Three Little Pigs, Guarnaccia plays homage to three famous architects Frank Gehry, Phillip Johnson, and Frank Lloyd Wright in a modern retelling of this story. The houses are stylized after each architect’s signature style and made from scraps, glass, and concrete. The Big Bad Wolf is tougher than ever in his sunglasses and black leather jacket as he chases the little piggies from one house to another. Using the classic narrative of “Little Pig, Little Pig, let me come in” …. But the little pig answers “not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin” keeps this retelling true to the classic, fun to read, and appropriate for kids. Yet by updating certain elements (such as house architecture) Guarnaccia keeps this rendition fresh and innovative! This book is published in a large picture book format with colorful illustrations that are simple yet detailed, and are not too overwhelming for the storyline.

Reviewed by: Katharine Quinn, SJSU MLIS Student

If you liked this book, you may like: Roberto, The Insect Architect by Nina Laden

Other books by this author: Goldilocks and the Three Bears: A Tale Moderne