Those Building Men

Children's Literature

Those "shadowy building men"—many, perhaps most, of their names are lost to history but the works they left testify to their strength and vision. These were men who dug, sawed, hammered and hauled to build a modern industrial nation. The author's spare yet eloquent poem brings these Native American, Asian, African and European men to life. The simple language captures the enormity of their tasks and honors the sacrifices they made in pursuit of a common goal. It pays tribute to their strength and courage in the face of danger, boredom and isolation. The illustrator's rich watercolors lend force to the poem. A National Book Award winner, Moser captures the wildness of the North American landscape and the immensity of the builders' undertakings—bridges, railroads, canals and skyscrapers. He puts faces on those anonymous building men, imbuing each portrait with both humbleness and dignity. Like the men themselves reviewing their accomplishments, the reader finishes this book shaking his head and thinking, "Ain't that something." 2001, The Blue Sky Press/Scholastic, . Ages All. Reviewer: Stephanie Farrow

School Library Journal

Gr 2-5-This poetic tribute praises and remembers the men, "the fathers," who built the bridges, railroads, roads, and buildings in America. They came from far away, looked ahead to linking the waters, moving the earth, channeling the swamps, and creating walls of steel, and when they were done, they'd say "Ain't that something." Moser's large, dramatic, sun-bleached watercolors depict young men in undershirts, far-looking old men in beaten-up hats, Native American skywalkers, African-American drillers and muleskinners, all seen working against the pale blue washed sky. Readers may be intrigued by the book's suggestion that perhaps a relative of theirs could have been a builder long ago and ask about their own family history. The endnote states that oral tradition remembers many cultures at work building and that women who are not mentioned in the text nonetheless labored along with men. It is elegantly and symbolically illustrated with an old man in dress shoes and a suit resting peacefully in a hammock.-Susan Hepler, Burgundy Farm Country Day School, Alexandria, VA Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.