What do you think?
Rate this book
Building
It begins with an empty city lot and ends with a gleaming new building. But what happens in between? With his trademark sketch pad, watercolors, and sharp eye for atmosphere and detail, Elisha Cooper takes note of what goes on at a construction site -- from the obvious to the not-so-obvious. And curious young builders will relish his funny observations and unfailing scrutiny. There are backhoes that look like messy eaters, and lots of hammering that sounds like do-re-mi. Come see (and hear) the building -- it's going up now!
40 pages, Hardcover
First published April 30, 1999
1 person is currently reading
22 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
February 10, 2018
A sweet book perfect for little ones that are interested in how buildings get built. I especially like that the pronouns which include he and she point to the fact that women are constructions workers. the imagery of pushing the glasses up on one's face, eating fried chicken and using the porta potties are all human and day in the life situations. The wording on the page is playful as it goes up as the bulidning is going up, goes in cicles like the cement in the mixer, etc. Overall, a nicely written little book!
October 12, 2020
I like this book’s humor throughout and also the inclusion of some women in roles in the building process. The drawings are cute and are like small sketches, but lack the flashiness seen in other children’s books. It is excellent for children interested in how buildings are made.
September 19, 2019
VERY LONG. Not good for very young readers, but good if your child is interested in how things are made
Read
April 8, 2023such a boring, long book
June 15, 2023
Read my review at https://www.biblioguides.com/pub/book...
April 3, 2024
A great book for learning - on a basic level - how buildings are built.
July 20, 2011
There are many picture books that are breezy reads with cute illustrations, but they fade from memory shortly after closing them. A good book is one that lingers. Elisha Cooper's Building had me flipping back to reread fresh phrasing and peeking again at his simple, yet effective pencil sketches filled in with watercolors.
After reading the disappointing This is Daniel Cook at the Construction Site, I searched for a better book to captiure boys' fascination with construction. I'm a ferry ride away from a well-stocked bookstore so I had to settle for what I could find at my small, but vibrant local library. Building was a surprise discovery.
I'd anticipated coming across a loud book with big bold text matching photos of monster-sized bulldozers and cranes in action. Building is not that book. Instead, it is a quiet, reverant homage to the tasks and the workers in the construction industry, more real than any photojournalist's work.
The reader gets a full sense of the sounds, sights and feel of transforming a barren lot into a new building "waiting to be filled with people." The backhoe, cement truck and crane all get their due, but the construction workers earn the spotlight. Cooper's writing comes alive in the rich details. "Another worker smoothes the wet concrete. His hands are crusted in gunk and he has to use his wrist to push his glasses up to his nose." He compares a wheelbarrow of mortar to "a big tub of oatmeal." His portrayal of life on the work site includes the radio tunes that keep painters company ("Some days they hear the same song five times."), the choices during lunch and even mentions bathroom breaks ("[One worker] finds the Porta Potti."). Women work alongside men on site. ("[A]nother worker opens sawhorses, puts in her ear plugs and cuts boards for the first floor.")
Published a dozen years ago, I wonder if an editor would save a manuscript like this from a slush pile today. The language is not watered down for 4-6 year olds. While every word matters, the word count is high in the current 600-words-or-less picture book world. More allowance for nonfiction? Maybe, but Cooper's sentences contain clauses and are often metaphorical. ("With the skeleton of the building in place, the skin goes on.")
Perhaps to minimize language concerns, the text is creatively shaped and chunked. When an architect and workers survey the empty lot, the text crawls around the perimeter of the double-page spread. The text regarding the cement truck spills from the chute of a cement truck sketch and forms the rounded image of the drum.
As a read-aloud, this book will have more meaning through repeated reads over several years. I can also see it being used to teach descriptive writing in grades three and four, something to go along with literary examples of flower gardens and pristine lakes. Description is not just in the adjectives which are used sparingly in Building. The actions must be realistic and vivid. Kids will smile as they easily visualize passages like, "A contractor lugs toilets up stairs. She bumps into walls and can't see her feet." (Again, more toilet talk without the base humor.)
Elisha Cooper's Building makes a substantial addition to any picture book collection.
After reading the disappointing This is Daniel Cook at the Construction Site, I searched for a better book to captiure boys' fascination with construction. I'm a ferry ride away from a well-stocked bookstore so I had to settle for what I could find at my small, but vibrant local library. Building was a surprise discovery.
I'd anticipated coming across a loud book with big bold text matching photos of monster-sized bulldozers and cranes in action. Building is not that book. Instead, it is a quiet, reverant homage to the tasks and the workers in the construction industry, more real than any photojournalist's work.
The reader gets a full sense of the sounds, sights and feel of transforming a barren lot into a new building "waiting to be filled with people." The backhoe, cement truck and crane all get their due, but the construction workers earn the spotlight. Cooper's writing comes alive in the rich details. "Another worker smoothes the wet concrete. His hands are crusted in gunk and he has to use his wrist to push his glasses up to his nose." He compares a wheelbarrow of mortar to "a big tub of oatmeal." His portrayal of life on the work site includes the radio tunes that keep painters company ("Some days they hear the same song five times."), the choices during lunch and even mentions bathroom breaks ("[One worker] finds the Porta Potti."). Women work alongside men on site. ("[A]nother worker opens sawhorses, puts in her ear plugs and cuts boards for the first floor.")
Published a dozen years ago, I wonder if an editor would save a manuscript like this from a slush pile today. The language is not watered down for 4-6 year olds. While every word matters, the word count is high in the current 600-words-or-less picture book world. More allowance for nonfiction? Maybe, but Cooper's sentences contain clauses and are often metaphorical. ("With the skeleton of the building in place, the skin goes on.")
Perhaps to minimize language concerns, the text is creatively shaped and chunked. When an architect and workers survey the empty lot, the text crawls around the perimeter of the double-page spread. The text regarding the cement truck spills from the chute of a cement truck sketch and forms the rounded image of the drum.
As a read-aloud, this book will have more meaning through repeated reads over several years. I can also see it being used to teach descriptive writing in grades three and four, something to go along with literary examples of flower gardens and pristine lakes. Description is not just in the adjectives which are used sparingly in Building. The actions must be realistic and vivid. Kids will smile as they easily visualize passages like, "A contractor lugs toilets up stairs. She bumps into walls and can't see her feet." (Again, more toilet talk without the base humor.)
Elisha Cooper's Building makes a substantial addition to any picture book collection.
Read
July 23, 2009BR-Coo
February 27, 2011
Nice children's book about the creation of a building. I like how the words go in different directions sometimes.
May 2, 2015
What I liked about this book, the way the words were placed in different ways...but pictures were bland but the story of was okay! Didn't love it but it also has some good points!
May 16, 2008
For those kids that are interested in building and tools, this is a great book!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews