Tuesday Storytime: Construction Crews

A fun, shortish trio of books today.

Build, Dogs, Build
James Horvath (Dig, Dogs, Dig)
ISBN: 9780062189677
Hanna-Barbara-ish dogs demolish an old building and build a new apartment complex, in rhyme.

Very much like Dig, Dogs, Dig, but with more of a focus on the materials and visuals of the emerging building, rather than on the actions of the dogs doing the work.  A few moments where I wondered if pages were missing; we move from worrying about a moving van hitting a plate glass window to a scene of dogs chasing bouncy-balls all over the construction site.  A sharper look reveals that the van is CARRYING said bouncy-balls, and they all fell out when the van swerved to miss the glass, but none of that is in the text, and it seems to jump wildly from work to breaktime with no warning.  Even the ending is a bit abrupt.  I was expecting a final repeat of the "x, dogs, x" motif that was scattered randomly through the book.  Despite this, very clever, very readable, and highly recommended for the focus on plans and engineering and actual construction details like water and sewer pipes, the thickness of the concrete flooring, and the correct order of building, cladding, and finishing the interiors of the high-rise.


Demolition
Sally Sutton, illustrated by Brian Lovelock
ISBN: 9780763658304
(originally reviewed here)

Same thoughts as the review from before: Kids absolutely love it, and I enjoy the word-play and the super-fast flow.  I do prefer Roadwork, and I would like to get my hands on Construction and see how it flows in comparison.


Construction Kitties
Judy Sue Goodwin Sturges, illustrated by Shari Halpern (I Love Trucks!)
ISBN: 9780805091052
Naif round-faced kitties run progressive pairs of heavy machinery; turning a field into a playground.

This book is too cute.  Short enough to be a middle book, with a very clear and steady progression through the day, from mornings at home, the drive to work (often skipped over by picture books) the work day, lunch (sardines and milk, yum!) and a break for relaxation (also often skipped over) work again, and a drive home.  All this powered by a steady flow of various equipment that digs, moves, pushes, and smooths dirt into a playground, and a rhythmic drumbeat of language that reads like poetry, even though it is non-rhyming.  A good one to end on, and the one the kids paid most attention to and responded directly to, despite being last (and therefore more susceptible to wiggles).

Summer Reading Program 2014. Week 5: Engineering (My Original Plan)

Still no AC this week.  Very warm, despite fans.  Families still great, kids still lovely.

Because of the heat, I switched things up a bit.  My original plan was to read Willy and the Cardboard Boxes by Lizi Boyd, How a House is Built by Gail Gibbons, and Demolition by Sally Sutton (all of which I'll review below, because they are awesome books, and I'm sad I didn't get to do them this time.)  Instead, I had a whole different line-up of shorter, easier books, which I'll also review in the next post, because they are also quite nice, and the kids enjoyed them.  

My Original Plan:

Willy and the Cardboard Boxes
Lizi Boyd
ISBN: 9780670836369
A boy goes to work with his dad and spends the day with a set of empty cardboard boxes, which turn into many imaginary things.

I like this story for a lot of reasons.  First, we have a dad taking his son to work, which is nice.  Next, we have the dad being supportive and helpful towards his son's self-play activities (offering advice, giving scissors and tape, checking in on him but not interrupting).  After that we have Willy himself, creating an awesome stream-of-consciousness adventure fueled pretty much entirely by some boxes and markers.  The story is longer, but it flows well, and the ending where Willy and his dad head back home is surprisingly touching.

Demolition
Sally Sutton, illustrated by Brian Lovelock
ISBN: 9780763664930
Pencil and watercolor? illustrations of oversized but realistic construction equipment, lots of sound effects.

A really good pick for the middle, because it's so short and lively, unfortunately it was out of place in my replacement (oh my lord it's so hot) line-up of reads today.  Despite the fun of the book, and the great rhymes and word-play, I would have preferred that it either stick with the theme of demolition, leaving an empty bare place for the next construction, or that the creation of the park at the end was more integrated into the story.  Have to say that I like Roadwork (same author/illustrator) a little better for that exact reason, even though my go-to book for road-building is Easy Street by Rita Gray, illustrated by Mary Bono (which I also need to use again and review).  Niggles aside, I doubt that toddlers obsessed with construction equipment are even going to notice, and it's great fun to read.

How a House is Built
Gail Gibbons
ISBN: 9780823412327
Simple primary-colors and clean lines show off the process of constructing and moving into a house.

Extremely similar to Byron Barton's Building a House, but with more text and the illustrations are slightly more sophisticated, and often show chronology through inset panels (like a comic strip or "classic" graphic novel).  The small pictures can present difficulties for larger groups, but despite that, I prefer this one unless I specifically need a short read because it has much more information and more specific construction details.  I find that kids are really interested in the details, so they're willing to sit longer when they're hearing bits they haven't learned about before (plumbing and wiring especially seem fascinating).

So, I'm a bit sad that I didn't get to use these good books today, but they're a great program all together, and I'm going to hit them up again probably in the fall when school starts back up.