Overview
The unbeatable team of Deborah Hopkinson and James E. Ransome present a riveting brick-by-brick account of how one of the most amazing accomplishments in American architecture came to be. Join a young boy as he watches the Empire State Building being constructed from scratch, then travels to the top to look down on all of New York City in 1931. Hopkinson, a master of historical fiction, and Ransome, an award-winning illustrator, dazzle us with this ALA Notable and a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book.
In 1931, a boy and his father watch as the world's tallest building, the Empire State Building, is constructed, step-by-step, near their Manhattan home.
Synopsis
The acclaimed team that brought readers the IRA Children’s Book Award—winning Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt is back with a riveting brick-by-brick account of how one of the most amazing accomplishments in American architecture came to be. It’s 1930 and times are tough for Pop and his son. But look! On the corner of 34th Street and 5th Avenue, a building straight and simple as a pencil is being built in record time. Hundreds of men are leveling, shoveling, hauling. They’re hoisting 60,000 tons of steal, stacking 10 million bricks, eating lunch in the clouds. And when they cut ribbon and the crowds rush in, the boy and his father will be among the first to zoom up to the top of the tallest building in the world and see all of Manhattan spread at their feet.
Publishers Weekly
A second-person narrative voice places readers at the construction site of (at that time) the world's tallest skyscraper. From the first line, "It's the end of winter,/ and your pop's lost his job," the grim realities of the Depression form the story's backdrop. Opening spreads show a boy collecting firewood from "that old hotel/ they tore down at/ Thirty-fourth and Fifth." Hopkinson (Fannie in the Kitchen) infuses an emotional charge in her dramatization of the building's erection ("a symbol of hope/ in the darkest of times"), while also folding technical details into lyrical prose: "First come rumbling flatbed trucks,/ bundles of steel on their backs,/ like a gleaming, endless river/ surging through/ the concrete canyons of Manhattan." Ransome's oil paintings, in hues of blue, gray and russet brown, capture the scale and increasing elevation at which the "sky boys" worked. Framed against white clouds, men stand precariously on steel scaffolding. One spread, divided into vertical quarters, shows the building's progress in June, July, August and November; the next, a climactic vertical spread, boldly labeled "5:42 pm March 18, 1931," depicts workers stationed on the pinnacle mast, an American flag billowing behind them. Photographs of the site's actual construction decorate the endpapers, and an endnote offers even more details. The subplot about the father and son (who tour the completed building at the book's close) seems tacked on, but the drama of the building's rise makes for a literally riveting account. Ages 4-9. (Feb.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
A second-person narrative voice places readers at the construction site of (at that time) the world's tallest skyscraper. From the first line, "It's the end of winter,/ and your pop's lost his job," the grim realities of the Depression form the story's backdrop. Opening spreads show a boy collecting firewood from "that old hotel/ they tore down at/ Thirty-fourth and Fifth." Hopkinson (Fannie in the Kitchen) infuses an emotional charge in her dramatization of the building's erection ("a symbol of hope/ in the darkest of times"), while also folding technical details into lyrical prose: "First come rumbling flatbed trucks,/ bundles of steel on their backs,/ like a gleaming, endless river/ surging through/ the concrete canyons of Manhattan." Ransome's oil paintings, in hues of blue, gray and russet brown, capture the scale and increasing elevation at which the "sky boys" worked. Framed against white clouds, men stand precariously on steel scaffolding. One spread, divided into vertical quarters, shows the building's progress in June, July, August and November; the next, a climactic vertical spread, boldly labeled "5:42 pm March 18, 1931," depicts workers stationed on the pinnacle mast, an American flag billowing behind them. Photographs of the site's actual construction decorate the endpapers, and an endnote offers even more details. The subplot about the father and son (who tour the completed building at the book's close) seems tacked on, but the drama of the building's rise makes for a literally riveting account. Ages 4-9. (Feb.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.Children's Literature
This interesting picture book tells the story of the building of the Empire State Building in New York through free verse. While poetry and rhyme is not unusual in picture books, in this one, it creates a different feel as it shifts from 3rd person (omniscient) to 2nd person focus (through the eyes of a young boy). The illustrations use vivid color with blurred details to create a sense of the immensity of the building, from its incarnation to its completion. The focus on the "Sky Boys," those men who actually walked around on the girders, provides the tension and the adventure of the story, but the author nicely balances this with the more challenging issue of out-of-work men who were willing to put their lives on the line--literally--to get a job. A final "Note about the Story" provides additional details that avid readers will certainly want to know after reading this book. This picture book is a definite winner. 2006, Schwartz & Wade Books/Random House, Ages 5 to 10.—Jean Boreen, Ph.D.