Starred Review ALA Booklist (Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 CST 2007)

Starred Review Curlee, whose Brooklyn Bridge (2001) was selected as a Sibert Honor Book, explores more large structures in this picture-book overview of skyscrapers "uniquely American invention." He moves from the first skyscrapers, which rose in the aftermath of the Chicago fire, through the contemporary building scene (9/11 is briefly mentioned), and the soaring towers planned for the future. In each example, Curlee introduces landmark buildings and the engineering advances that made them possible, as well as thoughts about how these buildings affect the ways society lives and works. The format, which features dense, lengthy passages of text, may initially deter some readers. However, the clear, organized narrative, spiced with quotes from famous designers, makes the architectural history thrilling, and children will be enticed by Curlee's stunning acrylic paintings, which showcase the buildings in austere, glowing portraits. Pages summarizing the development of skyscraper technology, and a cleverly rendered chronology of the world's tallest buildings, add further visual appeal. Match this with Susan Goodman's Skyscraper (2004) and the titles listed in "The Art of Construction," a bibliography published in the December 15, 2000, issue of Booklist.

School Library Journal Starred Review

Gr 4-8-Dramatic paintings and lucid prose highlight this excellent history of skyscrapers. Nearly every spread features a full page of text opposite an impressive acrylic illustration. Thus, a page turn reveals another striking construction as the text proceeds chronologically. Precise lines and deft coloring convey the elegance and grandeur of the buildings. Carefully varied composition reveals full views, key sections, or from-the-ground-up perspectives, helping readers grasp the essence of each construction. Clean, stylized renderings make each skyscraper clearly distinct from others shown, and the main elements of the different architectural styles are easy to identify. Curlee covers a lot of ground, from early multistory buildings in Chicago and New York to the latest ambitious plans for new record-breaking towers. He offers useful historical context and relates how architectural artistry and technology impacted skyscrapers through the decades. Well-chosen quotations, used as section headings and within the text, show diverse opinions, ideas, and reactions related to this sometimes-controversial field. When buildings are described without illustrations, the significant elements are still easy to follow through the words. The powerful effect of the full-color paintings is substantial, though, and works with the text to introduce the magnificence of skyscrapers in a way that readers will understand and remember.-Steven Engelfried, Beaverton City Library, OR Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.

Horn Book (Sun Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2004)

This retelling of "Little Red Riding Hood" is set in the desert and features a brown-skinned girl who encounters a hungry coyote while en route to her abuela's house. Polette smoothly integrates Spanish words into his text, and although Szegedy's busy illustrations would have benefited from a less anarchic palette, her coyote is a distinguished villain who gets his just desserts, Latin style. Glos.

Kirkus Reviews

Between a view of the Chrysler Building and a to-scale gallery of present and future behemoths, Curlee offers an opinionated survey of more than a dozen skyscrapers and their architects, chronicling the "rise" of both over the past century and a half of building big. The blocky, stylized structures in his paintings are evocatively monumental, but his soaring tribute is likely to leave readers behind—unless they're conversant with undefined architectural terms like "pier" and "pylon," and don't mind a text laced with names that are seldom accompanied by any biographical details. An index and resource list would have been fitting. A grand tale, but children seeking specifics, or more than the occasional glimpse inside the walls, will prefer Carol A. Johnson's hands-on Skyscrapers! Super Constructions to Design and Build (2001), or Chris Oxlade's Skyscrapers (2006), with its cutaways and plastic overlays. (Nonfiction. 9-11)