Dreaming Up: A Celebration of Building
By Christy Hale
Age Recommendation: 4 - 8 years
What is the purpose of a story, if not to inspire? For children, books that can engage, educate and motivate are gems. Dreaming Up, is one of these books.
Each page shares three things. Beautiful illustrations of children using various materials to build wrapped with concrete poetry and paired with a correlating notable architecture from around the world.
On one page, we see two girls building with sticks, branches and rocks to make a fairy house. Opposite of this fairy home is the Bamboo Church in Colombia, which resembles the structure built by the girls. Another page shows the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Spain paired with a pillow fort. Each playful poem, child’s creation and memorable building is diverse in its origin, function and look.
This book seeps with inspiration which will likely leave your child asking for more information on the unique buildings, and a desire to create their own. The author helps you with the former by providing an informational page at the end of the book, including descriptions of each building and the architect that designed them.
New York City has an abundance of uniquely designed buildings with a rich history. We recommend pairing this book with a walk around town or a scavenger hunt to discover specific buildings. Let your findings or the book's pages encourage your inner architect by creating your own building!
Amanda is a preschool teacher, mother and avid Central Park picnicker. She values community and is an advocate for families in the foster care system. One day she hopes to publish a children's book of her own. In the meantime, you can follow her Instagram, Enchanted Literacy, which encourages imagination and passion for reading.
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