Arches to Zigzags: An Architecture ABC
PreSchool-Grade 4-Crosbie and the Rosenthals clearly have a passion for form. In this alphabet, upper and lowercase letters are coupled with full- and double-page color photographs illustrating architectural details or terms. Thus, "E" is for the "Eave" on the Robie house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. "T" is for the "Turret" on a marvelously ornate pink Victorian in California. The text consists of rhyming questions. ("Look under a roof/For eaves broad and plain./Can eaves give you shelter/From the sun and the rain?") They serve as an entr?e to discussion for young children, but the imposed rhyme scheme is distracting. Nevertheless, the book is attractive and informative. Artfully composed, the photographs command attention and arouse interest. Source notes combining definitions and identifications conclude the title. Slipping this volume in between Stephen T. Johnson's even more fundamental Alphabet City (Viking, 1995) and Diane Maddex and Roxie Munro's more in-depth Architects Make Zigzags (Preservation, 1986) would build awareness for an underappreciated, yet omnipresent art.Wendy Lukehart, Dauphin County Library, Harrisburg, PACopyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.