Full-color photographs and often lyrical prose document the real-life construction of a building om architectural plans to finishing touches. In simple declarative sentences, Hudson introduces the diverse people, equipment, and construction activities, interjecting lively commentary along the way. Specialized vocabulary (excavate,rebar, etc.) appears in boldface andis effectively defined at the bottom of the page in small type. Photos range from small close-ups to awesome two-page spreads picturing the city and the men and women of the culturally diverse crew. It's hard to resist the excitement of cranes hoisting steel beams; the intricate mazes of pipes, cables, and wires; and the dramatic reveal of the completed structure lit up against the night sky. Sobol'sendnote provides background on the photos and thoughts about the building process, which reinforce Hudson's underlying idea: construction is "dozens of people working together to solve a great puzzle." Pair with Mordecai Gerstein's The Man Who Walked between the Towers (2003) and Dietrich Neumann's Joe and the Skyscraper (2000).

Photographer Sobol spent three years at the site of an unusual M.I.T. building designed by architect Frank O. Gehry. Given the imaginative scope of this project, the book's rote text and derivative design is a disappointment. However, the photographs are detailed, energetic, and come at the reader from all angles--just like this Dr. Seuss-like building.

With obvious reverence for his project, Sobol's photographs chaperone the young reader through a three-year construction project. The color images are varied in perspective, but each captures the action. "The construction zone," Hudson points out, "is like a giant puzzle," and together author and photographer, piece by piece, unveil the whole. Each page contains the definition of one or more emboldened words from the text providing for succinct, but copious information. The journey spans architectural plans, excavation, rebar and concrete to insulation and fixtures. Hudson lingers on every person involved, with obvious respect for those who hang from scaffolds or painstakingly lay wire. The finished product, in all its gleaming glory, is an elegantly curved and oddly angled Frank Gehry creation. Advanced for a toddler, but this read will be fascinating for the burgeoning builder. Only the penultimate photograph—of the finished structure—lacks the compositional beauty of the rest, but in every other respect this intriguing project gives an amazingly broad overview of the entire building process. (Nonfiction. 4-7)

Gr 2-6-Large photographs of the construction of the MIT Stata Center in Cambridge, MA, are the core of this book. The simple text explains the process from the design by Frank O. Gehry to the completed building. Construction-zone activity, equipment, and jargon are pictured and explained. Caution tape frames the pictures and separates blocks of bright colors and text. Words in bold, such as "concrete" and "rebar," are defined and explained at the bottom of the page on which they appear. These explanations are indicated by orange diamond-shaped signs with a question mark, adding to the construction-zone feel. Children will be fascinated by both the picture story and the informative text. Adults will appreciate the photojournalist's note about his experience in documenting the three-year construction of this very unique building.-Carolyn Janssen, Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, OH Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.