A Skyscraper Story

School Library Journal

Gr 4-7-- This beautiful book describes the design and construction of the 57-story Norwest Center in Minneapolis. Wilcox not only delivers a personal ``biography'' of this particular skyscraper, but also includes enough generic information to allow readers to appreciate other construction projects. She does an excellent job of communicating the complexity of the task, and provides frequent comparisons to bring the building's scale into understandable terms: ``. . . 80 acres of drywall, and 25 acres of floor covering . . . would be enough material to complete 700 single-family homes!'' Interesting sidebars provide more details. Attractively laid out, the book uses white space, positive and negative space, and richly informative full-color photos to make reading a pleasure. At times, however, an overly elementary writing style intrudes on an otherwise very readable text: ``Machines continued to dig and dig and dig some more.'' MacGregor's Skyscrapers (Lothrop, 1980; o.p.) is a project book with black-and-white illustrations and a broader, more historical approach. These two titles supplement each other well. --Joel Shoemaker, Tilford Middle School, Vinton, IA