Why Humans Build Up

September 1, 2022

Gr 5 Up-Craigie's latest walks readers through the evolution of sky-high monuments. In the beginning, these buildings were erected for safety and religious purposes. Now the focus is to build tall towers for population booms. Some newer skyscrapers are even built to reduce pollution and help battle climate change. Each chapter explains this progression from safety to sustainability. The author anchors the readers' learning by citing well-known high-rise structures, such as the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Eiffel Tower, and the Empire State Building. In addition, Craigie stretches readers' knowledge by discussing other lesser-known structures. These include the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the Shanghai Tower, Hong Kong High-Rise, and the Manitoba Hydro Palace, just to name a few. Both the illustrations and the photos included enhance the text and assist tweens in understanding the content. The language is clear, and a glossary is included. Consequently, it is a valuable resource for striving and reluctant readers. This would serve as an excellent contemporary companion to David Macaulay's older books, such as Cathedral, Castle, and Pyramid. VERDICT Recommended as an asset for both school and public libraries. Students who are fascinated by history and architecture will especially enjoy this book.-Jeni Tahaney

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Starred review from September 15, 2022
Grades 4-8 *Starred Review* What encourages people to build higher and higher? This survey of very tall buildings suggests a number of possibilities, as reflected in its chapter headings: security, spirituality, ingenuity, rivalry, luxury, and so on. Each chapter begins with one structure that meets its assigned criteria, providing a detailed history of its construction, purpose, and actual use. The ensuing pages introduce additional buildings of interest, often through sidebars. These skyscraping edifices come from all periods of history and from countries all over the world. Pages are filled with solid blocks of engaging text plus plenty of full-color photos. There are also several irresistibly busy full-page drawings that bring the buildings in a chapter together, portraying them side by side, making it easier to make comparisons (for the chapter devoted to utility, Toronto's CN Tower snuggles close to the Empire State Building on the banks of the Thames, just across from Big Ben). The final chapters are devoted to efficiency and sustainability, followed by a glossary and lists of online and print resources. This great STEAM offering has multiple applications (architecture, civil engineering, cities and housing, the environment, preservation, history, the future, and more) and will be useful for report writers and aspiring architects alike.

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Starred review from August 1, 2022
An atypically ruminative survey of tall buildings and structures worldwide. "There are some good reasons for building up, and a few bad ones as well." Going for a thematic rather than chronological approach, Craigie groups his several dozen examples by common needs or qualities--beginning with "Security" (the tower of Jericho, the lighthouse at Alexandria, and castles from Edinburgh to Osaka) and going on to celebrate architectural expressions of "Beauty," "Utility," and even "Spirituality" as well as "Rivalry" and conspicuous "Luxury." Along with mixing customary monuments, from the Great Pyramid of Giza to the Burj Khalifa, with distinctive but potentially less familiar constructions like the Tokyo Skytree and Djama� El Djaza�r in Algiers, the world's tallest minaret (not to mention some humongous smokestacks and no fewer than three leaning towers in Italy), he tucks in topic-expanding sidebars on, for instance, totem poles, women architects such as South Africa's Malika Walele, and ways in which those from marginalized groups are impacted by safety issues in public housing. Following a final roundup of environmentally sustainable towers that includes a profile of Harare's Eastgate Centre, which is modeled after African termite mounds and, he notes, "uses only 10 percent of the electricity of a similar building with air-conditioning," he closes with select but appropriate resources for budding tourists or architects. Fu's finely detailed inside and outside views greatly enhance the generous suite of grand, sharply reproduced color photos. Broad in scope, perceptively organized, and enriched with fascinating entries. (glossary) (Nonfiction. 11-13)

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