Gustave Eiffel's Spectacular Idea: The Eiffel Tower

by Sharon Katz Cooper, Janna Rose Bock (Illustrator)

Have you ever seen the Eiffel Tower? Gustave Eiffel's tower is one of the most recognized landmarks in the world, but it wasn't an easy path to turn his idea into a reality. Readers will love learning the story behind the name as they follow along with Gustave's beginnings as a bridge designer and the engineer behind the Statue of Liberty, the criticism and personal attacks by the media he faced while building the tower, and his eventual world-renowned success.

Genres: Picture Books, Nonfiction, Childrens, France, Architecture, History

32 pages, Library Binding

First published August 1, 2015

Reviews

[Bo Xin Zhao · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Eiffel Tower is a light read that summarizes the ideas, building process, problems, and solutions of the Eiffel Tower. The main character Gustave Eiffel has a rewarding and great character trait: persistence. For example, when people in Paris originally thought the idea of the 1000 feet iron tower was insane and hideously unfinished, Gustave still followed through the idea. Another example is when the workers rebelled and demanded more pay. Gustave overcame this by accepting and still working on, determined to finish the project.
Overall, that brings me to the main theme of the book, which is greatly shown by Gustave: To persist and never give up. I think this was crucial for the Eiffel Tower project because it was this grit that drives the idea and helps Gustave succeed.
This was an interesting read, and I recommend it to anyone who wants a short break from those heavy fictional books!

[Christy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you ever seen the Eiffel Tower? Gustave Eiffel s tower is one of the most recognized landmarks in the world, but it wasn t an easy path to turn his idea into a reality. Readers will love learning the story behind the name as they follow along with Gustave s beginnings as a bridge designer and the engineer behind the Statue of Liberty, the criticism and personal attacks by the media he faced while building the tower, and his eventual world-renowned success."

[Tara Thieleke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adorable illustrations and informative. I’m a high school art teacher and I’ve made a powerpoint about Eiffel, his bridges, his work on the panama canal, his modular structures, his scientific experiments, his work on the Statue of Liberty and of course the tower and I still learned a thing or two.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative and interesting

[Margaux · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful little book that narrates the erection of the Eiffel Tower. Especially useful is the photo of Gustave Eiffel, something that I've noticed a lot of children's books about the Eiffel Tower lack.

[Kiddo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really 3.5 stars. A nice bright, factual picture biography. Gave 4 stars because kiddo liked it enough to ask for all the other books in the series.