Cityscape: Where Science and Art Meet

by April Pulley Sayre, April Pulley Sayre (Illustrator)

Overview

Triangles and towers. Bricks and blocks. Engineering and art. A city has all those—and more! Acclaimed author and photographer April Pulley Sayre explores the basic STEAM concepts that are always just around the corner with striking photographs and a lyrical, layered text. Cityscape celebrates the science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics of urban life.

April Pulley Sayre has turned her keen photographic eye to the art and architecture that fills every city. Stunning photographs illuminate basic STEAM concepts such as geometry (lines, angles, and shapes), transportation, power, building, construction, balance, and community, while also celebrating the beauty, diversity, and magic of human creativity and the written word.

This informational picture book features a rich, read-aloud text, remarkable full-color photographs, and excellent backmatter. Cityscape is an ideal resource for teaching how art, science, and design intersect and an accessible, awe-inspiring choice for story time.

Includes backmatter with information about the photographs and additional resources for STEAM activities.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062893314
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	05/19/2020
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	1,082,847
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 10.20(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

April Pulley Sayre is the award-winning creator of numerous books for children, including the acclaimed Raindrops Roll, Best in Snow, and Full of Fall. She has traveled to many places to observe, investigate, and photograph the world. The stunning photographs in Cityscape illuminate basic concepts of art, science, design, engineering, math, construction, and language arts for budding engineers, artists, architects, construction workers, and poets alike! April Pulley Sayre lives in South Bend, Indiana. You can visit her online at www.aprilsayre.com.

Jacket photography © 2018 by April Pulley Sayre

April Pulley Sayre is the award-winning creator of numerous books for children, including the acclaimed Raindrops Roll, Best in Snow, and Full of Fall. She has traveled to many places to observe, investigate, and photograph the world. The stunning photographs in Cityscape illuminate basic concepts of art, science, design, engineering, math, construction, and language arts for budding engineers, artists, architects, construction workers, and poets alike! April Pulley Sayre lives in South Bend, Indiana. You can visit her online at www.aprilsayre.com.

Jacket photography © 2018 by April Pulley Sayre

Editorial Reviews

[Sayre’s] sharply focused, beautifully composed photos reveal the creativity of architecture and engineering . . . Through pleasing verse, riveting illustrations, and an appended section of questions to explore, Sayre helps children discover the wonders to be found in urban settings.” — Booklist (starred review)

“Intriguing . . . [Sayre] celebrates architecture, engineering, construction, and the art inherent in our cities. . . . A STEAM title with plenty of visual and verbal appeal.” — School Library Journal (starred review)

“Juxtaposing different buildings, bridges, sculptures, and vehicles, Sayre’s eye-catching spreads . . . showcase lines, curves, angles, and shapes in striking compositions. . . . Sayre encourages viewers to get outside and look around.” — Horn Book Magazine

From the Publisher

Juxtaposing different buildings, bridges, sculptures, and vehicles, Sayre’s eye-catching spreads . . . showcase lines, curves, angles, and shapes in striking compositions. . . . Sayre encourages viewers to get outside and look around.

Horn Book Magazine

[Sayre’s] sharply focused, beautifully composed photos reveal the creativity of architecture and engineering . . . Through pleasing verse, riveting illustrations, and an appended section of questions to explore, Sayre helps children discover the wonders to be found in urban settings.

Booklist (starred review)

★ 04/01/2020

K-Gr 3—"Science, math, [and] art/live side by side" in this intriguing collection of urban images. She celebrates architecture, engineering, construction, and the art inherent in our cities. There are photos of tall buildings and rows of windows, highways, plants, and power lines. A crane appears next to a spire early on in the book and again toward the end, a reminder of the process of building and repair. There is decoration, detail, and a spread of materials. The contrast in shapes and styles is stunning. The blocky, traditional arrangement of the pictures contrasts with many curves—including one rippling Gehry tower. The "Tension/ Suspension" of remarkable bridges is shown with a glimpse of the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile driving across one. Images include Chicago skyscrapers, the London Bridge, Machu Picchu, the Louvre, Angkor Wat, the Capitol building in Washington, DC, and the New York Library lions. The simple text includes few words on a page, but the underlying rhyme and alliteration mimic a song of praise. An afterword includes good questions for readers. VERDICT A STEAM title with plenty of visual and verbal appeal.—Kathleen Isaacs, Children's Literature Specialist, Pasadena, MD

School Library Journal

2020-02-18
An eclectic collection of photos of architecture is linked by simple rhymes in large type, highlighting the visual confluence of engineering and art.

A photo depicting electrical wires against a building with corrugated siding is accompanied by the text “Lines merge, / diverge, divide,” followed by “Science, math, art / live side by side” on the facing page, accompanying photos of a statue of a lion, a tiled wall, and a close-up of a grille of some sort. Similarly, curves, triangles, and other geometric elements are evoked in photos of skyscrapers, bridges, cranes, and sculpture. In places, the concept seems too advanced for the likely audience. “Structures transmit,” set against a photo of electrical transformers, is shown opposite the text “transport, / and power,” which accompanies four photos: of people riding a Vespa, a fire engine, an overhead view of a recreational kayaker, and a view of the U.S. Capitol with a school bus in the foreground. Readers will be understandably confused as they try to parse this sentence. Are the scooter, fire engine, and kayak to be read as “structures”? Is the picture of the Capitol dome a play on the word “power”? Most of the generic cityscape images seem to be of Chicago, with landmark structures from Machu Picchu, London, Paris, and other cities mixed in. A concluding spread contains questions for children to consider as they navigate cities.

A rare misfire from Sayre. (Informational picture book. 5-9)

Kirkus Reviews