photographs

Cityscape: Where Science and Art Meet by April Pulley Sayre

| Tasha

Cityscape Where Science and Art Meet by April Pulley Sayre

Cityscape: Where Science and Art Meet by April Pulley Sayre  (9780062893314)

Explore the angles, lines and structures of the buildings and spaces that make up the city. Through vibrant photographs, this poetic informational picture book takes readers on a journey through cities and their spectacular architectural features. The author focuses on more than soaring skyscrapers, also showing readers mosaic floor tiles, dramatic doorways, ancient cities, and the plants that live in urban environs. Fountains, bridges, trusses and more also fill the pages with fascinating gears and incredible structures.

Sayre has once again created an informational picture book that really shines. Here she turns her lens to urban environments, showing readers various elements that they may overlook on their own journeys. She includes information on how to explore a city and offers questions for readers to ask themselves as they wander. The questions are architectural, asking readers to look closely and then wonder a bit.

As always, Sayre’s photographs are impressive. Here she beautifully plays with angles and arches, points and columns, windows and water. The book feels like a walk through a city, each page turn like rounding a new corner.

A joyful look at our cities and the beauty to discover there. Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Greenwillow Books.

Review: Picture Day Perfection by Deborah Diesen

| Tasha

picture day perfection

Picture Day Perfection by Deborah Diesen, illustrated by Dan Santat

Picture Day is a day when you want to take the perfect picture.  That doesn’t come easily!  In fact, the boy in this book has been planning his Picture Day for months.  But nothing seems to be going well at all.  First is the bedhead hair that makes his brother laugh, then his favorite shirt is stained and smelly, and that all leads into the incident with the syrup at breakfast.  The day continues this way and when he gets to school he starts to get into trouble with how he is acting.  He won’t practice his smile, choosing instead to stick out his tongue.  He sends paint flying during art.  He doesn’t get a comb to fix his hair.  In the end though, it all comes off just like he planned, or does it?

Diesen has a wonderful kid-like sense of humor that is very evident throughout this book.  Her timing is great, the story will have everyone laughing.  Readers will figure out what is really happening in this book just as the author decides to reveal it.  Then the entire book still makes sense, but in a different way.  It makes for a great read.

Add in Santat’s vibrant and equally funny art and you have a real winner.  Santat captures the funniest moments in the text with great style.  The image of the syrup incident is my favorite but I also love the picture taken at the end of the book. 

Funny, pure silliness and just right for the start of a new school year.  Try this one out with older elementary students since they will love the humor too.  Appropriate for ages 5-8.

Reviewed from copy received from Abrams Books for Young Readers.

Review: Life-Size Farm by Teruyuki Komiya

| Tasha

life size farm

Life-Size Farm by Teruyuki Komiya

This fourth in the “Life-Size” book series takes on farm animals in glorious full-size photographs.  Just like the others in the series, there are panels that offer more detailed information, including the animals name, age, and scientific name.  There are details about physical characteristics that are explained further as well as a list of facts.  All of these are presented in bright colors and with a playful feel.  But it is the photographs in their large size and with the clarity and detail that they offer that will have children taking this book home and lingering over it.

Several of the pages unfold to show even larger images of animals.  The huge furry alpaca and the enormous cow will generate lots of interest.  What is most amazing here is that the size of all of the animals is surprising and fun.  Even better, the quality of the photographs is always high and offer lots of small details to pay attention to.

A great pick for library shelves, though the size is large enough to make them not fit on shelves easily!  This is an excellent addition to a popular nonfiction series for children.  Appropriate for ages 5-9.

Reviewed from copy received from Seven Footer Kids.