DIM’S DICTIONARY OF DYNAMIC READS: Built With Love
Picture books are renowned for tackling a plethora of subjects that illuminate imaginative thought and spark creativity. None more so than those centred around construction, building, making. As an adult, I am constantly moved and enlightened by the ability of humans to design and create homes to shelter in and communities to thrive amongst. Imagine then how enthralling these types of books are for youngsters. This crafty collection of recent releases escorts young readers from architectural triumphs, to design to the notion of ‘home is where the heart (or pet) is’. Enjoy!
Digby & Claude by Emma Allen and Hanna Sommerville
This hefty picture book is a moving
tribute to the re-developmental phase of housing in Australia in the late
1930s. It is also a powerful testimony to change, the evolution of friendship
and resilience of community spirit. Digby and Claude unite as a change in the
appearance and composition of their street begins; new flats are being built.
As the demolition of the old and raising of the new takes place, a parallel
construction of their own occurs, a wondrous cubby, which homes an unbreakable
friendship and precious memories. A moving pictorial snapshot of a time in
history that captures the essence of change. Sublime reading.
NLA, September 2018 ISBN:
9780642279279
Created and crafted by this
well-known duo, this picture book is a truly magnificent tribute to the
designer of our beloved Sydney Opera House. To this day, few other building
designs match its elegance, iconic uniqueness or colourful history. This book
is less of how it was constructed and more of a close up look of the life of the
visionary gifted Danish architect, Jørn Utzon to the point of the building’s
completion. A classroom staple!
EK Books, October 2022 ISBN:
9781922539144
This spectacularly presented
experience is a journey around the world hosted by a menagerie of pets who
diligently describe their humans’ abodes with profound affection and glorious
detail. Homes across the Americas, Europe and Asian continent are portrayed in
absorbing detail, enough on each page in fact to create a ‘look and find’
scenario. Locating the narrating pets is half the joy. The other, a superb
intro into housing styles and conventions illustrating that not all homes are
equal. Highly recommended.
Frances Lincoln (Quarto - Imprint),
October 2017, ISBN: 9781786031136
Privacy, functionality, fun; these
are just some of the essential prerequisites of building one’s cubby house.
McKenzie does a marvellous job of juxtaposing family whims and values, dynamics
and desires within the walls of one very extraordinary cubby. Kids will love
the comedy and absurdity of it all because including a movie room in one’s
cubby house is tots normal, right! Brilliantly relayed in bubbled speeches and
useful steps, this is fantastic inspo for the family’s next weekend project
together.
Scholastic Press, May 2019 ISBN:
9781760152673
Speaking of family projects, this
golden nugget anthropomorphically highlights a pair of precocious pufflings’
requests for a place of their own. Their puffin parent, the erstwhile architect
of designs and demands, comes up with dozens of potential dwelling ideas only
to receive constant rebuff from said youngsters. Sound familiar? Eventually we
learn that home and one’s sense of place is indeed unique to self. Jolly
rhyming text and magnificent imagery thrusts puffin magic and a myriad of
different housing designs onto centre stage revealing the wonderful diversity
of living spaces, needs and wants, not to mention the incredibly photogenic
puffin! A unique, entertaining sensory delight.
Penguin Random House Australia, July
2018 ISBN: 9780143793755
by Tami Sussman and Tom Jellett
Delightfully Aussie in flavour, this
metaphoric adventure humorously couples the daily quirks and tribulations of
toddlers with those of the tradies who construct and labour for a living. Both
occupations of course involve a lot of work, large appetites, a need to dress
appropriately and enough stamina to build, create, knock down, wade through
disputes, adapt to changes of plan, clean up and … well you get the idea. With
the aid of Site, Safety and Project managers, these tiny tradies survive
another day – just. Rollicking relatable fun makes this a joyous read for
parents attempting to avoid overtime with their own toddlers. Jellett’s use of brighter
than bright hi-vis orange to emphasise visual points makes the whole thing
utterly wonderful.
Affirm Press, February 2023 ISBN:
9781922848123
Written during the time of Covid,
this meandering tale of change is a marvellous song about community and caring
and the amazing inherent resilience possessed by kids. This work of art
features a – work of art. It’s birth, evolution and final magnificent magnetic
pull that unites a community in a thousand unseen but profoundly felt ways.
Graham’s gift with a handful of words and a few supremely executed lines and
smudges sings this song with a simplicity that speaks louder than words. The
focus being that life can blossom in the most dismal of environments, beneath a
towering block of flats with nothing but concrete to grow upon. Sublime.
Walker Books Australia, October 2023
ISBN: 9781529512649
Narrated by the shack itself, this
is a visually resplendent and linguistically rich tale that allows readers to
appreciate the mechanics of a structure but also understand that a building’s
heart and soul is the sum of many things not least of which are its occupants.
When the shack is abandoned by one occupant, we experience the same despair and
decline as it does until the process of time and change brings a renewal of
life and colour again. A fetching story about the impermanency of all things
including those that are manmade.
Working Title Press, July 2023 ISBN:
978192203154
It wouldn’t be a building bonanza
without a non-fictional contribution and this one is a standout. Despite the
aptitude and skill humans have possessed for building things for tens of
thousands of years, it’s not always immediately obvious how we make bridges
span impossibly wide divides or create buildings that soar thousands of feet
into the air – against the law of gravity! This book takes readers through the
art of harnessing nature’s laws and using them to construct things that are
long, tall, dome-shaped, strong and stable in every environment on this planet
(and some in space and underground too). It is engrossing, enlightening and
easy to digest with the use of famous and well-known structures from around the
world. Fascinating and factual reading. Perfect for future architects, designers
or the curious at heart, like me.
Bloomsbury, September 2021 ISBN
9781526603654
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