Prairie Boy: Frank Lloyd Wright Turns the Heartland into a Home

by Barb Rosenstock, Christopher Silas Neal (Illustrator)

Frank Lloyd Wright, a young boy from the prairie, becomes America's first world-famous architect in this engaging and inspirational nonfiction picture book introducing organic architecture--a style he created based on the relationship between buildings and the natural world--and transformed the American home.

Frank Lloyd Wright loved the Wisconsin prairie where he was born, with its wide-open sky and waves of tall grass. As his family moved across the United States, young Frank found his own home in shapes: rectangles, triangles, half-moons, and circles. When he returned to his beloved prairie, Frank pursued a career in architecture. But he didn't think the Victorian-era homes found there fit the prairie landscape. Using his knowledge and love of shapes, Frank created houses more organic to the land. He redesigned the American home inside and out, developing a truly unique architecture style that celebrated the country's landscape and lifestyle. Author Barb Rosenstock and artist Christopher Silas Neal explore the early life and creative genius of architect Frank Lloyd Wright, highlighting his passion, imagination, and ingenuity.

Genres: Biography, Picture Books, Nonfiction, Art, Architecture, Childrens, History

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 10, 2019

Reviews

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picture biography of Frank Lloyd Wright. It was interesting enough for my kids who knew nothing about him.

[Stephanie Bange · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fans of FLW will enjoy seeing the shapes of Wright's beloved Froebel blocks in the illustrations an learn what an influence these shapes had in his designs.

Barb Rosenstock has distilled this picture book biography to the simplest form possible. It maintains the essence of Wright. She relies on Christopher Silas Neal's colorful geometric-filled mixed media/digital illustrations to fill in the detail and add life and splashes of color to his life story. It is printed so it opens up short and wide, like many of FLW's prairie houses.

Back matter includes an author's note, selected sources used by the author, source notes in the book, and photographs of FLW and several of his masterpiece buildings.

Recommended for grades K-5.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well done and appropriate biography of Frank Lloyd Wright’s young life, along with what learning aid helped him become a world class architect, the Froebel blocks. There is actually a photo of Froebel blocks in the appendix depicting the various shapes included in the set. The appendix includes information of interest to adults, including the fact that Wright has twelve structures in Architectural Record’s 100 most important buildings of the century, including the number one structure, Fallingwater, in western Pennsylvania.
The illustrations are very in keeping with Wright’s life and work. Christopher Neal has also done 5he illustrations for Kate Messner’s three nature books which I enjoyed very much.

[C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really fun biography for children covering Frank Lloyd Wright. It held my 7yo's interest really well and I particularly loved the illustrations in this one. The author's note with Frank Lloyd Wright's history answered some additional questions my 7yo had, and he really liked the pictures of the buildings that Wright designed.

Definitely recommend for collections on architects and building and American history for young students.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the story...for me...as an adult reading a picture book. I'm not so sure a child will appreciate the information. Still, it's a good picture book.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frank Lloyd Wright is my favorite architect and I usually read anything I find on him. I grew up in Buffalo, which boasts several FLW structures. They recently finished renovating one of my favorites, the Darwin Martin house. He also designed a summer house for Martin, overlooking Lake Erie, called Graycliff. I still haven't visited this house, even though it is located not far from where I grew up. My bucket list includes visiting all of Frank Lloyd Wright's creations across the US. Though this book is presented in the form of a picture book, it still provides much early background information on Frank Lloyd Wright's life. The simplicity of the illustrations perfectly complement the style of Wright.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

We've been reading a lot of books about famous artists lately. I'd be remiss if I didn't include one about architecture as well. I believe this is the 5th or so of Rosenstock's books that we've read this week.

Years ago, my oldest child and I watched a documentary about Frank Lloyd Wright (probably on Netflix), and then several years after that my youngest child and I read The Wright 3 (by Blue Balliett), additionally we purchased and made a puzzle of one of his paintings. His buildings are truly works of art. This child's book is a good introduction for children of architecture as art.

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A children's picture book biography. This is definitely style over substance, though the substance is there. But how do you show cool architecture in a picture book? This book tried to show how it felt. And perhaps it captured Frank Lloyd Wright's process. It definitely was intriguing. And finishing with photographs of some of the more famous buildings and a nice afterword certainly helped. This felt flawed but kind of cool. 3.5 of 5

[Laura Perdew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prairie Boy is a beautiful book about an iconic American architect who changed the way we think about architecture. I enjoyed learning about how Wright's love of the prairie translated into his house designs. This book covers Wright's life, coming full circle from his days a child exploring the shapes on the prairie to turning those shapes into Prairie Houses.

[Victoria Whipple · Rating 4 out of 5]

Biography of Frank Lloyd Wright. Examines early influences of his natural surroundings, the prairie, and encouragement by his mother. Backmatter includes more detailed information, sources, and photos of some of his buildings.

[Karen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Something about this book didn't hold together for me. I know in my head that the book was supposed to show how Wright incorporated geometrics into his design in contrast to the style of the time, but it just didn't come together for me.

[Melinda Bender · Rating 4 out of 5]

A look at one of the most well known contemporary architects in history. Frank Lloyd Wright designed more than just buildings but furniture and clothes. His elements of design incorporated the surrounding landscape and lifestyles of the modern American. Very interesting story.

[Jessie]

This was interesting because it dealt with rural living and architecture. If there is a kid out there who wants to create buildings, this is surely for them! (I, myself, didn't actually like the style Wright created. I actually liked those old-fashioned ones!)

[Anna Sobczak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frank Lloyd Wright, famous architect known nationwide, started out as just a boy on the Wisconsin prairie. Young Frank traveled all over, learning about the shapes that make up his homeland of America, eventually leading him to design the first truly American home

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Illustrations 5/5
Text 3/5

I found myself getting bogged down I'm the text and feel like elementary children would struggle to understand and stay interested. I do find Frank Lloyd Wright fascinating, however, so I'm glad I read it.

[Lindsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked that this book included photos of a couple Frank Lloyd Wright designed buildings.

[Christine Turner]

HCPL Juv Biography

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

My full recommendation: https://librariansquest.blogspot.com/...

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I love Frank Lloyd Wright and his amazing body of work, I didn't love this biography.

[Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved learning about Frank Lloyd Wright so much I requested this book for a second time from the library.

[jennifer]

Beautifully done, and memorable.

[Jasmine]

Some architecture history!

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent picture book biography. Back matter includes photos of his most famous designs.

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars for this interesting look at the early life of Frank Lloyd Wright

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good starting point to learn about Frank Lloyd Wright's life. The pictures and style focus on how shapes played a pivotal point in Wright's architectural career.

[Cecile · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the illustrations were lovely. However, this book is not aimed at adults and my l.o. who is the target audience did not like this book.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well done and clear information. Great back-matter.

[Kellee Moye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Educators' Guide: http://www.unleashingreaders.com/?p=1...

[Elaine Fultz, Teacher Librarian, MLS · Rating 4 out of 5]

Straightforward bio of the visionary architect.

read harder 2021-Read a book set in the Midwest.