Underground

Macaulay uses his amazing talents to turn the world upside down in this unique book. Children (and even adults) will learn all kinds of things about what's beneath a modern city. I enjoyed showing my son the illustrations and explaining what it all means. Do beware, however, that this is a pretty abstract topic and that it can be difficult for younger kids to fully comprehend exactly what's going on. After all, thinking about what a city would like like with all the soil and rock removed and from many feet below street level is not a simple idea. So this one is probably best for older kids, as opposed to earlier works by Macaulay such as Cathedral or Castle that are much more tangible and easy for kids to comprehend.

Most book illustrators portray buildings from an eagle's eye perspective. A few talented illustrators will open up the buildings and give insightful cross sectional views. What makes this book so special is that David Macaulay shows us buildings from the perspective of looking up from the bedrock on which the building rests. This is unique and is typical of Macaulay's great visual imagination and wit. This book concentrates on a big city corner where four large buildings sit. The story begins with the foundation excavation, the pouring of foundation pilings and moves up to building infrastructure that sits just below the city street. We are all aware that a great deal of engineering goes into making large cities livable. However, there is nothing like a well illustrated book to help one understand the sheer complexity of our modern infrastructure. I would recommend this book to older children with an interest in the physical world around them. It is also a great book for adults with an interest in architecture and urban planning. There are illustrators with better drafting skills than David Macaulay but when it comes to sheer imagination, Macaulay is in a league of his own. Highly recommended.

What Mr. Macaulay does is pull up a city by the roots, shake the dirt off, and take a no-nonsense (well, maybe a little nonsense) look at what is revealed. The illustrations are clear and informative, with just a touch of whimsy. The book covers sanitary sewers, storm sewers, water lines, electricity, telephone, subways and building foundations. A gift for aspiring civil engineers of all ages!

David Macauley's work has just gotten better thru the years ...but even his early books like underground are wonderful! I received this book as a child & I'm now ordering it as a gift.