"It's magnificent site, monumental twin towers, breathtaking span, cutting-edge technology, and sheer beauty make Brooklyn Bridge the grandest, and perhaps the most important, structure built in America during the nineteenth century. To people at the time, it seemed almost miraculous. They called it the Eighth Wonder of the World." Lynn Curlee brings this sixteen year triumph of engineering and architectural design to life in his fascinating story of how the Brooklyn Bridge grew from an idea into a reality. His straightforward and engaging text is rich in history, drama, interesting fun facts, and anecdotes, and complemented by marvelously bold and creative illustrations. Youngsters will enjoy poring over the detailed and innovative diagrams, watching as the bridge is constructed right before their eyes. With additional information, statistics, a timeline and short bibliography included at the end, Brooklyn Bridge is non-fiction at its very best, and a captivating history lesson kids 9-12 shouldn't miss.

Simon & Schuster continues to lead the flag-waving wave of children's books with "Capital," the publisher's latest patriotic primer. An informative tutorial geared for older picture book readers, "Capital" is a no-nonsense mini-text book decorated with colorful illustrations, renderings and maps. With years of scholarly research behind him as an art historian, author/illustrator Lynn Curlee takes a suitably serious approach. Though not chaptered, his book is clearly and concisely structured. First, Curlee gives an overview of the five great structures at the heart of the United States capital city, the "bustling metropolis of Washington, D.C." - namely, the White House, George Washington Monument, Abraham Lincoln Memorial, Thomas Jefferson Memorial, and the domed U.S. Capitol building - then proceeds to take a closer look at each one individually and chronologically. This is a fully fleshed account, with at least twice the text of the average non-fiction picture book, so no details are skimped, and the reader is never cheated with sketchy shortcuts. Amid the larger story, sections are peppered with interesting and memorable details such as the fact that future president Thomas Jefferson entered - and lost - a competition to design the original White House, then called the President's House. Curlee's bold, pristine paintings of buildings, settings and key figures architectural are highly stylized, yet accurately rendered to pay respect to the subjects, particularly the architectural details that are discussed in accompanying text. And at the very end, an author's note conveniently outlines the difference between "capitol," "Capitol" and "capital," which will surely aid conversations repeated again and again by teachers, students and most readers...including the book's editors who surely had an interesting proofreading task.

The story behind the Statue of Libery is filled with suspense even though the happy ending is well known! This book attempts to have us think more deeply about this well known American icon. Born from a deep admiration for the American democratic experiment, like many other treasures it was conceived of by private citizens and funded in the most democratic way---by the people. The story of its conception and funding is more interesting than the technical details but it is complete in all aspects including the restoration. The illustrations add to the power of the writing.

Enticed by a review of it in a local free-bee circular, I really wanted to like this book. The illustrations are good, but neither they nor the text were especially engaging. I'm not familiar with the author's other works, but i suspect this is not his best.