This month's RTÉjr Book Club, with thanks to our friends at Children's Books Ireland, was written by Juliette Saumande, a children’s book writer who has built her fair share of forts and treehouses, and whose latest title, My Little Album of Ireland (illustrated by Tarsila Krüse and published by The O’Brien Press) is out now.
Who doesn’t love a digger? It’s big, it’s bright, it wrecks stuff so that more stuff can be built. It’s pretty much a toddler in mechanical form! Ireland is a good place right now for heavy machinery loving kids as it sometimes feels like the country is covered in cranes, bulldozers, and other concrete mixers. This month’s selection brings the building fun home with titles that explore in intricate detail the goings on of building sites. Don’t be fearful of the specific vocab; it might seem obscure or tricky to you, but chances are your little experts already know more than you do and will easily take in all this new knowledge.
Loud noises, pops of colours, lots of interesting smells, textures and movements, a building site is a feast for the senses! Emma Garcia taps into all of that in her Tip Tip Dig Dig that will delight the youngest of readers with its clever repetition and surprise reveal at the end (ages 0–2). Very young kids will love the hands-on approach of Xavier Deneux’s Build! where they get to put the hard hat on the builder’s head and lay down some bricks. In Johnny Dryander’s Make Tracks: Building Site they’ll have a chance to 'drive’ big machines around the site thanks to clever sliders built into the pages of this sturdy boardbook (both for ages 0–4).
Building, of course, isn’t just about machines and materials, but very much about people. Those involved in the design and construction, and those who get to enjoy the finished product. Building a Home by Polly Faber and Klas Fahlén (ages 4–7) shows just that, as it gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the refurbishment of an old building. Teamwork is also at the heart of the gorgeous Everything You Need for a Treehouse by Carter Higgins and Emily Hughes (ages 5–10) where kids don the hard hats to dream up and build their own exciting, welcoming, safe spaces. Even when a project is finished, the ‘building’ doesn’t end there, as it takes work to build a community to inhabit the space, be it through gardening as in Errol’s Garden by Gillian Hibbs (ages 3–6) or through food like in Lunch at 10 Pomegranate Street by Felicita Sala (ages 5–8).
Older readers who enjoy real-world problem-solving and have an eye for systems and design will find much to admire in How Was That Built? by Roma Agrawal and Katie Hickey and its clever approach to architecture and engineering through questions such as ‘How to build underground?’ or ‘How to build in outer space?’ (ages 9–12). And for any young historians out there, Steve Noon’s A Street Through Time: A 12,000 Year Journey Along the Same Street and Step Inside: Homes Through History by Goldie Hawk and Sarah Gibb (both for ages 8–12) are fascinating and stunning accounts of all that happens along a path or under a roof through the ages.
This month’s RTÉjr Book Club recommendations are inspired by Children’s Books Ireland’s new reading guide Building Communities in partnership with Cairn Homes. So, dear young reader, grab your hard hat, trowel, or a drawing compass and get building the world you want to live in!
Build! by Xavier Deneux, Chronicle Books, Boardbook, 14pp, ISBN 9781452178714
A gorgeously chunky boardbook with moveable parts, Build! will keep little hands busy putting on hard hats, shovelling soil or setting bricks in place. Why? Because, bit by bit, we’re building a house, of course! The bright illustrations and tactile approach are perfect for toddlers who have a fascination for big machines, and it’s great for practising those fine motor skills too. The text is cheerful and simple, yet it makes a point of using technical vocabulary, which will delight young construction afficionados. A sure winner! (Age 0–4)
Building a Home, by Polly Faber and Klas Fahlén, Nosy Crow, Paperback, 32pp, ISBN 9781788007030
An old building in town is being refurbished and we’re invited to peek behind the scenes for the whole project, from the architect’s design to the foreman gathering their team, the assembly of the tower crane, the plumbing, wiring and more. In this busy, fascinating book, we meet many professions, encounter many tools, materials and equipment, and find out tons about hard work, teamwork and building works! Diverse and specific in both text and illustrations, this is an exciting and informative read. Brilliant! (Non-fiction, Age 4–7)
Built by Animals: Meet the Creatures who Inspire our Homes and Cities by Christiane Dorion and Yejji Yun, Wide Eyed Editions, Hardback 80PP, ISBN 9780711265684
A colourful, witty, and fact-filled book that informs and entertains in equal measure. Children will be amazed at the skill and artistry as they learn about some of the best architects, designers and builders of the animal and plant world. Each double-page spread is devoted to one animal, plant or skill with a large, amusingly attired animal explaining about its unique adaptation and how this has inspired humans in architecture, engineering, and construction from the diabolical ironclad beetle to the white-spotted puffer fish. STEM made fun! (Non-Fiction, 5–7, 8–10)
How Was That Built? by Roma Agrawal and Katie Hickey, Bloomsbury Children’s Books, Hardback, 80pp, ISBN 9781526603654
Award-winning engineer Agrawal looks at the techniques, tools, materials and people behind some of the world’s most ingenious structures, from the Shard in London (‘How to build tall’) to the Katse dam in Lesotho (‘How to build watertight’) and all the way to Antarctica’s Halley VI research station (‘How to build on ice’). Picturebook veteran Katie Hickey brings concepts and structures to fascinating life. With ancient and contemporary examples, and an eye on the future too, this book has it all! (Non-fiction, Age 9–12)
