The acclaimed team that brought readers the IRA Children’s Book Award—winning Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt is back with a riveting...
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Oct 30, 2009
Valerie
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Summary:
Told from the the perspective of a young boy, as he watches the "world's most famous building (The Empire State building) take miraculous shape before his eyes,' readers experience every stage of the building process from clearing the area of debris, to sixty thousand tons of steel arriving on the "backs of rumbling flatbed trucks" to form the structure, watching the men "high overhead [as:] they crawl like spiders on steel, spinning their giant web in the sky More...
Told from the the perspective of a young boy, as he watches the "world's most famous building (The Empire State building) take miraculous shape before his eyes,' readers experience every stage of the building process from clearing the area of debris, to sixty thousand tons of steel arriving on the "backs of rumbling flatbed trucks" to form the structure, watching the men "high overhead [as:] they crawl like spiders on steel, spinning their giant web in the sky More...
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Mar 04, 2010
amy
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In Sky Boys, the historical building of the Empire State building is chronicled in free verse through a young boys eyes. The reader meets the young boy, scrounging for wood around the city. Pop's lost his job and times are tough. But there is hope in the form of a dream: a soaring tower which, once built, will be a beacon of hope in desperate times. Men line up to help each day. The reader learns how, steel column by steel column, the magnificent building goes up! At last, it is open and the boy
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Apr 06, 2009
Chak
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I really don't like books written in the second person, but that didn't seem to bother my son when I was reading him this book. He's a skyscraper freak, and don't even get me started on our lengthy conversations about Taipei 101 or Burj al-Arab vs. Burj Dubai, ok? Therefore, he easily got past the voice and the side-story of the hardscrabble times of the Great Depression and focused on the over-arching story of the building of the Empire State Building. The book has some fun statistics and in
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Oct 11, 2009
earthy
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Told in an unusual second-person narrative, a young boy living in Manhattan during the Depression watches with his father as the Empire State Building is built. Thick, colorful oils portray the Empire State Building, the men working on it, and the city dwellers watching from below. End papers include photographs of the actual workers and their death-defying work high above the city. Though the story is fictional, the basic facts of the building project—how long it took, how many people were i
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Nov 08, 2009
NS-Christine
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It took sixty thousand tons of steel, ten million bricks, two thousand tons of marble, and much more to finish the Empire State Building. This is the story of how this world famous building was completed during the Great Depression. At the time, it was the world's tallest building. The story is told from the perspective of a little boy who admires the "sky boys" working high up over the city of Manhattan. He talks about how "each man works as fast as he can, knowing that down
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Oct 05, 2009
Kara
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The end pages of this book is really cool because it is actual pictures of the guys who built the Empire State Building, before the book goes in detail and explains how they built it. The pictures in the book are made with acrylics in a realism fashion. The arrangement of pictures and space is different on each page, as some are positive space with positive shape and others are negative space with positive shape. The pictures also have a horizontal line, to make the pictures look longer, as the
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Mar 06, 2011
Kaye
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esbnyc.com more infor on the Empire state building.
This is a story of the building of the tallest building in the world, that gave jobs to hundreds of men during the depression and more after the skin of the building was complete. A young boy watches the building and tells the facts about oww the men's actual jobs from the heater, the catcher the bucker-up man and the gunman. A fascinating tale. Check out the actual footage of the building of the Chrysler Blding the year before on
This is a story of the building of the tallest building in the world, that gave jobs to hundreds of men during the depression and more after the skin of the building was complete. A young boy watches the building and tells the facts about oww the men's actual jobs from the heater, the catcher the bucker-up man and the gunman. A fascinating tale. Check out the actual footage of the building of the Chrysler Blding the year before on
Nov 05, 2009
NS Kelley
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This story takes place during the depression. A young boy and his father, who is currently unemployed, learn about plans of how this building will be built. They go and visit frequently and look at the rising tower as a symbol of hope and better times ahead. The story is told from the young boys perspective and in a present day tone. The illustrations are beautiful and help bring the story to life. I think this book would be most appropriate for younger elementary aged students.
Mar 03, 2011
Marcie
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Could use this to teach if just for the endpaper photographs and the front disclaimer "We have made every effort to trace the ownership of copyrighted materials in this book and to secure permission from copyright holders. In the event of any question arising as to the use of any material, we will be pleased to make the necessary corrections in future printings." I love the descriptions as assembly line construction and the page that explains the rivets.
Jun 13, 2010
Denise
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This book is a visual feast. Not only are the illustrations amazing, ( I actually felt dizzy looking at them), but Hopkinson's words form amazing mental pictures as well. For example, "First come rumbling flatbed trucks, bundles of steel on their backs, like a gleaming endless river surging through the concrete canyons of Manhattan.
Every page of this book is a gift, and hopefully many readers will choose to unwrap it.
Every page of this book is a gift, and hopefully many readers will choose to unwrap it.
Nov 16, 2009
Jackie
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Sky Boys tells the story of the thrilling, dangerous work in building The Empire State Building. As New Yorkers desperately try to find work during The Great Depression, they are truly amazed by the massive undertaking. This story is told in simple terms so that the youngest child can envision the daring steps it took to erect the building.
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Feb 22, 2008
babyhippoface
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In the middle of the Great Depression, more than 3,000 men put in seven million hours over the course of 410 days to build the pride of New York City, the Empire State Building. The story of that achievement is told in “you are there” fashion through the eyes of a young boy watching the steel giant’s construction from the ground up. Ransome’s oil paintings, some quite intricate, carry the narrative nicely along and show the building from different perspectives. One particularly fine spread featu
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Jun 07, 2010
Joan
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Great historical fiction and realistic pictures make the reader feel part of the rising of a great building that still stands today. To see this event through the eyes of a young boy and his struggling dad makes it that much more meaningful.
Jun 26, 2010
Teresa
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My students and I loved this book when we read it together. It was fun to bring in trivia about the Empire State building and awesome to watch them find the Empire State building in other books, in movies and on TV.
Oct 17, 2009
Tamara the Librarian
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Tells the story of the building of the Empire State Building in 1931 in NY from perspective of young boy whose father is unemployed in the depression. interesting info about its size and how it was built.
Nov 29, 2011
Pair with Skyscraper by Lynn Curlee to get the technical and the human side of building a skyscraper. Second person narration makes you feel like you are there.
Dec 15, 2009
I have always loved skyscrapers so this book caught my attention. It amazed me that the tallest building at the time was built in just over a year.
Jul 31, 2010
Fiona
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How long do you think it would take to build a 102-story skyscraper start to finish in the middle of Manhattan in 2010? Two years? Three? What if the year is 1931, during the height of the Great Depression in the U.S. and the building in question is the Empire State Building--destined to be the tallest building in the world once it's completed? Now how long do you think the construction would take? I'm not going to tell you (I don't want to ruin the surprise) but the construction of this America
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Jun 07, 2011
Jessica
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This is a beautiful picture book, that is interesting and fun. My boys read it over and over, and it is a fun read aloud as well.
Jun 14, 2008
Tricia
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picture book that recounts the building of the ESB in narrative. talks about the roles of them men from assembly line to construction.
Feb 10, 2012
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