Architecture Shapes (Preservation Press)

This a wonderful book with great photographs. The shapes are presented simply in black and white across from the color photograph. This helps children first learn the shape and then find the shape in the architecture. My one less star is because the depicted oval is really an ellipse. This happens often in children's books for some reason. An ellipse always has two axes of reflection; an oval has one or more. So, an egg-shape is an oval, but not an ellipse.

As an architect, I enjoy giving these books as gifts because they are different from your run of the mill children's books. I like how they use building pieces to teach about basic shapes and colors. It is not a book that highlights popular or historic architecture - its more about the components.

The book shows basic shapes through line drawings and on the facing page different architectural elements of that shape, mainly photos of windows. My twins are 13 months old and they choose this book as one of their favorites. The photographs are crisp and reality based (no cartoons), the typeface is large and clear, and the shapes are bold and basic. The twins like it read to them as well as flipping the pages themselves. We may soon need another copy as it is getting a lot of use. I would recommend this book to any small child, beginning reader, or even a little older.

The book shows basic shapes through line drawings and on the facing page different architectural elements of that shape, mainly photos of windows. My twins are 13 months old and they choose this book as one of their favorites. The photographs are crisp and reality based (no cartoons), the typeface is large and clear, and the shapes are bold and basic. The twins like it read to them as well as flipping the pages themselves. We may soon need another copy as it is getting a lot of use. I would recommend this book to any small child, beginning reader, or even a little older.