Builders and Buildings

This picture book celebrates Islam's beauty and traditions. From a red prayer rug to a blue hijab, everyday colors are given special meaning as young readers learn about clothing, food, and other important elements of Islamic culture, with a young Muslim girl as a guide.

As readers quickly comprehend, building a house is a complex project requiring the cooperative efforts of many people. Beginning with the architect who draws the plans, readers meet the surveyors, equipment operators, carpenters, plumbers, and other people who produce a building. The book concludes with a family moving in, ready to make the house a home.

Introduce young readers to basic construction concepts through the eyes of five friends keen on building a doghouse for their pet pooch, Max. Yulee, Martin, Nick, Sally and Pedro head to the library, where they learn about foundations, beams, frames and other building fundamentals. Fun facts, bright illustrations and comic-book-style discussions among the characters add to the mix. An activity at the end of the book invites readers to make their own mini doghouse out of marshmallows, paper, glue and craft sticks. [Amazon]

Can you spot the shape? Crisp photographs help children learn about the different shapes you can find in buildings. [Amazon]

Beavers are fascinating animals. They build their own homes and live in family groups. They keep busy with their sharp teeth, powerful tails, and big webbed feet. Their work helps to preserve wetlands. This introduction to beavers explores where they live, what they eat, how they raise their young, and much more.

Historical and technical information on the design and construction of bridges with easy hands-on experiments. Learn about arch, beam, and suspension systems, the "care and feeding" of structures, and reflections on bridges of the future. Find simple projects involving building, measurement, or observation, such as testing the strength of varied paper shapes or constructing a Popsicle-stick truss bridge or-for literary types-writing bridge poems. The book concludes with a challenge for young minds to "think outside the box."

Philip Freelon’s dream became reality when his team was commissioned to design the National Museum of African American History and Culture which opened in the nation’s capital in 2016. Beginning with his childhood, this realistically illustrated biography provides an afterword by the architect and additional resources.

A biography of Isamu Noguchi, Japanese American artist, sculptor, and landscape architect, focusing on his boyhood in Japan, his mixed heritage, and his participation in designing and building a home that fused Eastern and Western influences.

Zaha Hadid grew up in Baghdad, Iraq, and dreamed of designing her own cities. After studying architecture in London, she opened her own studio and started designing buildings. But as a Muslim woman, Hadid faced many obstacles. Determined to succeed, she worked hard for many years, and achieved her goals — and now you can see the buildings Hadid has designed all over the world.

This fascinating story of the development of steam engines is told against the backdrop of David Macaulay’s personal narrative of his family’s trip across the ocean from England to the United States in 1957 at age 8. Historical information is accompanied by detailed drawings and schematics of pumps and pistons, early steam engines, steam-powered paddleboats, river steamboats, compound engines, steam turbines, and the building of the SS United States

A journey through the history of architecture, from the earliest mud huts to today’s soaring towers. Chronologically arranged, this large-format book gives each iconic building its own double-page spread featuring an exquisite watercolor illustration and clearly written descriptions, facts, and features. These vibrantly detailed pages are filled with people, animals, and other objects that help bring the buildings to life.

"Every building has a story to tell." From the pyramid erected so that an Egyptian pharaoh would last forever to the dramatic, machine-like Pompidou Center designed by two young architects, these stories of remarkable buildings — and the remarkable people who made them — celebrates the ingenuity of human creation. The extraordinarily detailed illustrations take us inside famous buildings and demonstrate how these amazing structures fit together.