Builder Brothers: Big Plans

Builder Brothers #1

by Jonathan Scott, Drew Scott, Kim Smith (Illustrator)

It all begins when Drew and Jonathan are doing what they do best—thinking up big plans for even bigger projects. Will they build a treehouse? A castle? A catapult? They have a whole lot of big ideas, but no one thinks they can do any of them!

The twins brainstorm, scribble, and tinker until they have the perfect big plan. They’ll save every last penny, sketch out some designs, and make a whole lot of noise—builders aren’t known for being quiet—because they know that little kids can do big things.

But what will Drew and Jonathan do when their big plans don’t go the way they’d hoped?

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Construction, Family, Kids, Juvenile

32 pages, Hardcover

First published October 2, 2018

About the author

Jonathan was born and raised in Vancouver, Canada with his identical twin brother Drew Scott, and older brother J.D. Scott. His passion for entertaining started at the young age of 7 when he began performing in small theatre productions and on weekends as an apprentice clown. His acting eventually segued from the stage to screen and his clowning evolved to performing as a magician. He continued to hone his skills over the next decade or so, winning many awards and accolades. In 2005, Jonathan started getting more heavily involved in producing and promoting independent film & television. With his brother Drew, Jonathan founded Scott Brothers Entertainment and they began producing many of their own projects, which have now toured and gained numerous nods all over the festival circuit. Today Jonathan co-hosts the real estate show Property Brothers (2011) and oversees the operation and expansion of Scott Brothers Entertainment.

Reviews

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-done story for kids. The pictures are great and were entertaining even to a two-year-old, but some of the word choices were a bit beyond him. 4-5 is probably the best age for this book. While I haven't ever watched anything by the brothers, it wasn't necessary to know anything about them to make this a sweet, fun story.

[Raven Black · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are a fan of the Property Brothers and any of their shows (last count 132 I think) this is the book for you. I like the message, dream big/do big things. I like the sibling dynamic and the building project at the end sounds like a fun way to spend a day with your children/grandchildren or even a small classroom/group. The illustrations is polished and neat. Modern technology at its best by the looks of things. I do like the fact that the castle/tree house never made it off the ground and how they made the best of a "mistake" that wasn't such a mistake after all.

[Jennifer Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute story with pretty pictures for the kids. I especially loved the craft they included in the end!

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book because I like this illustrator but then, I saw it was about The Property Brothers so I scored twice! This was a cute, entertaining story from the brothers.

You really have to love this illustrator. Her illustrations are bright, colorful and fun to look at. I love how much energy flows from the pages and how everything looks real, yet with a cartoonish flair to it. The ruler, crayons, and papers are proportionate to the page and there’s so much detail and items to look at, on each page.

In this book, the brothers are young with big dreams. They want to build something amazing, but what? Like most kids, they want it to be specular but they can’t come up with the perfect plan until they see their dogs lying on the floor. They plan out everything perfectly, so they thought, until they take their final look at their final product and well, it wasn’t perfect. They have to adjust their thinking. It all works out in the end.

It’s a cute book that I think shows kids that they shouldn’t give up on their dreams even if it doesn’t work out, just readjust their thinking or idea, it still works. I like how the boys work together, work hard and how they still go after their dreams even when others are not encouraging them. I like their facial expressions (from sad to happy to excited) all on the same project. There are also instructions on how to build a birdhouse on the last page. 4/5

[Kathryn (Dragon Bite Books) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review originally published on my blog, Nine Pages .

This was another celebrity picture book that surprised me with its quality. During a summer day the brothers, children in this story, are dreaming up plans for a tree house, which makes the grown-ups laugh, thinking their wild ideas impossible. (“There’s a hundred and four days of summer vacation.” ♫) The brothers set out to prove the adults wrong. They decide to build a luxury, two-story doghouse (a bit of a step down from their castle tree house with a catapult, but perhaps more manageable on a small budget). They draw up blueprints, go to the store to purchase all that they need, and build their house—only to find that they measured incorrectly, and the scale is not right for their dogs. They are at first upset, but realize that the scale is right for a birdhouse. It’s a cute tale of trying to prove adults wrong, trying to prove that young people can succeed, that they can brings their dreams to life. It’ll be a fun one to read before setting out to build a birdhouse of your own with your little—instructions are in the back of the book.

[Karen Gedeon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Builder Brothers Big Plans written by Jonathan and Drew Scott illustrated by Kim Smith. A colorful picture book created in Adobe Photoshop, Builders Brothers depicts Jonathan and Drew taking on their first building project as children. From drawing up their plans, purchasing their materials and building their two story dog house, Jonathan and Drew tell children how important it is to follow their dreams even if their plans do not turn out as expected. When Jonathan and Drew realize their two story dog house is too small for their pooches, the brothers are sad until they figure out how to repurpose their masterpiece into a birdhouse. While not what they intended, the boys did complete a project they were proud of. Full color cartoonish illustrations depict the brothers as little version of their adult persona - Jonathan in plaid and work boots and Drew in casual business wear. Included are directions for readers to make their own birdhouses from half gallon jugs. Children aged 3+ as well as adult fans of the brother’s hit shows will enjoy this story.

[Becky B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Young Jonathan and Drew are always coming up with grand plans and ideas, but the adults in their life doubt they could pull them off. Jonathan and Drew want to show others what they are capable of, so they set out to create a magnificent double decker dog house. But will their plans work out like they hope?

A good lesson on how failure doesn't necessarily mean the project was a waste, and showing that kids can do cool things. They learn from their mistakes and are creative in repurposing the dog house when it doesn't quite turn out like they had envisioned. There's a crafty bird house project that only involves a milk carton included in the back of the book for creative little readers who also have grand design dreams. The illustrations are done in a style kids will love.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these guys, I listened to their audio book, they narrated it themselves. These guys are the real deal. I was super excited when I heard that they were doing a children's book. They delivered on this book and they teamed up with one of my favorite illustrators. Some of the words and phrasing are a little grown up but the message is the same. "sure, we're sure," said Drew. "Nobody thinks we can," said Jonathan. "But little people can do big things!" Ain't that the truth!!

[Monique · Rating 4 out of 5]

Often I find that books based on TV shows or real personalities are just okay. I was pleasantly surprised with this title. It was fun and engaging, the illustrations were bright and cheerful, and it was written and illustrated by Canadians! What more can you ask? (said the Canadian library staff member!) I especially loved that there were instructions on how to build a simple birdhouse at the end of the book. I'm looking forward to more titles in the series.

[Emily Simcox · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book shows readers important life lessons (not giving up, working together, and using your imagination) while keeping them engaged in the plot line itself. The book has colorful illustrations that keep readers' attention. The only problem children may have is determining which twin is which. The language in the story is child-friendly and would be a good book for emerging readers to read independently.

[Marina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Outside of the cartoony illustrations that were cute, there really wasn't that much about this book that stood out. It was kind of bland with the kids rising up to show the adults they were wrong but the adults stayed in the shadows and didn't really provide that much conflict for the storyline. It didn't seem like it was really that much of a struggle.

[Jj · Rating 2 out of 5]

How do the brothers, shown in this story as young boys, manage to dream up, plan, buy materials for, and build their "dream" house all in just one day? The story and the timeframe is in this book are very misleading/confusing. Or is it all intended as a tall tale? I honestly cannot tell one way or another.

[Jillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a cute story about determination to prove yourself, adapting to setbacks, and being willing to learn lots of new things.

But also, grown-ups, it's a reminder NOT TO LAUGH AT KIDS' DREAMS AND AMBITIONS. Seriously, don't crush your kindergartner's goals of being an astronaut by laughing at her.

[Susie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice story that's not as heavy handed as it could have been, and I like the illustrations, especially the ones where they're frustrated. I would like to know a little more of the background behind how this really happened, but I don't want to delve into their biographies that much! I could see uses for this in the classroom-- included math and scale models.

[Kris Dersch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was much better than I was expecting. My kiddo who makes endless plans for the things he will create really liked it and immediately wanted to build the birdhouse, plans for which appear in the back. Not enough here for a series, not looking forward to that, but a nice standalone if you have a kiddo whose creativity sometimes outstrips their ability.

[Melissa Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Identical twins who want to build an awesome project to show grown-ups that they can do great things... what's not to like? I especially like that when their project stumbles, they get creative and make it work. As the mom of another set of real builder brothers, I give this one (and the sequel) a big thumbs up.

[Norkett · Rating 4 out of 5]

As we are big fans of the Property Brothers, we tuned in to listen to Jonathan read the book with Zooey on HGTV's Instagram. We weren't disappointed; they came through just like they do in their design projects! Very sweet story of making the most of what you have even when things don't go exactly as planned. The project instructions at the end was a nice bonus!

[Tranylle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've watched some of these guys shows, and since we live in Vegas I thought it would be fun to teach my kids about them. They now want to go meet them, and my 7 year old gave the book 4.5 stars. A fun read that encourages you to dream big.

[Marilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a fan of the show Property Brothers and have small children, this book is for you. Jonathan and Drew show that no matter your size you can dream big. The best part is a project for you to build with your children on the final page.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book as a gag gift for my mom for Christmas so of course I had to read it before wrapping it. It was super cute. I could see kids loving it. The illustrations are gorgeous. Very nice work.

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes, the Property Brothers have a picture book. And it’s pretty cute. It has a positive message and you can tell that Kim Smith did the art, which is a good thing. My son picked this one, and I was happily surprised by it.

[Kayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute picture book, in which the brothers try to turn their big dreams into reality. It shows the importance of perseverance, and believing in your dreams, even if people laugh at you. Bonus -- it includes a related building activity that kids, and adults, will enjoy.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Scott brothers started building when they were children. This book tells the story of them building a dog house which turned out to be a bird house.
Directions to make a simple bird house included at the end.
Believing in yourself and perseverance.

[The Brothers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ah yes, celebrities writing children's book is a thing, no? This story is about the celebrities as young, twin boys attempting to build a double-decker dog house. It's ok. A tad boring, but ok.

Illustrations are nice and cartoony.

[CBS · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked when they built the bird house but they were really trying to build a double-decker dog house. The measured wrong and instead of getting upset they made it a bird house because it was very small. Parents/adults thought they couldn't build anything because they were little. (CBS - Age 9)

[Kate Carter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the Property Brothers and was excited to expose my kids to their story. My kids have active imaginations, and the oldest is already talking about his future house where he’ll live with his brother and we can visit. 😂 This book is also a good reminder to adults not to minimize kids ambitions.

[Immpulss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute kids book. Story is simple with a nice message. But it’s the gorgeous artwork that really makes this book rise above the regular celebrity cash in book.

[Karen & Danka · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was really cute and grandma loved it, a bit high level for the two year old it was being read to.

[Lakshmi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read. Good illustrations. Looking forward to more adventures by the Builder brothers!

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is actually awesome. I shouldn't have doubted this duo!

STEM, growth mindset, and teamwork... love it all!

4.5 stars