Amazing Built Structures

Children's Literature - Heidi Hauser Green

Have you ever wondered about the purpose of Stonehenge? Who carved Mount Rushmore? What Brazil's Christ the Redeemer statue is made of? How the Hoover Dam was built? These and nine other built structures are featured in the pages of this book. Author Nicholas Brasch takes on the Eiffel Tower, the pyramids of Egypt, the Statue of Liberty, the Gateway Arch, the EuroTunnel, the London Eye, the world's tallest skyscraper, and more. He focuses two pages of text on each structure, exploring an intriguing aspect such as how it was built or why it was constructed. Some authorial or editorial decisions are perplexing. For example, the Leaning Tower of Pisa would seem a natural subject for this sort of question-based book. What child, upon hearing of it, hasn't wondered has it always leaned, or will it ever fall? Also, it's surprising that there is no blurb in the Mount Rushmore about the Crazy Horse statue, also in South Dakota. Or that there is no acknowledgement of the Mayan pyramids alongside the mention of Egyptian pyramids. Like the other books in "The Technology Behind" series, this book features a colorful format and abundance of information. Illustrations are full-color photographs or drawings, and these appear on every page. Vocabulary words are printed in bold throughout the text, with definitions provided in "Word Watch" blocks on each page. "Web Watch" blocks on each page provide between one and three web addresses of resources with additional information; unfortunately, several are from commercial websites. Particularly in light of its focus on historical structures, this book might benefit more from a list of print resources rather than online references. All in all, this is a basic introduction to several specific structures. Reviewer: Heidi Hauser Green