Cityscape: Where Science and Art Meet

by April Pulley Sayre

Photographs and easy-to-read, rhyming text introduce how basic STEAM concepts can be found in the architecture, building, construction, and transportation of city life. Includes notes about what to look for while wandering through a city.

Genres: Picture Books, Art, Stem, Nonfiction, Science, Photography, Childrens

40 pages, Hardcover

Published May 19, 2020

About the author

April Pulley Sayre was an award-winning children’s book author of over 55 natural history books for children and adults. Her read-aloud nonfiction books, known for their lyricism and scientific precision, have been translated into French, Dutch, Japanese, and Korean. She is best known for pioneering literary ways to immerse young readers in natural events via creative storytelling and unusual perspectives.

Reviews

[Tasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Explore the angles, lines and structures of the buildings and spaces that make up the city. Through vibrant photographs, this poetic informational picture book takes readers on a journey through cities and their spectacular architectural features. The author focuses on more than soaring skyscrapers, also showing readers mosaic floor tiles, dramatic doorways, ancient cities, and the plants that live in urban environs. Fountains, bridges, trusses and more also fill the pages with fascinating gears and incredible structures.

Sayre has once again created an informational picture book that really shines. Here she turns her lens to urban environments, showing readers various elements that they may overlook on their own journeys. She includes information on how to explore a city and offers questions for readers to ask themselves as they wander. The questions are architectural, asking readers to look closely and then wonder a bit.

As always, Sayre’s photographs are impressive. Here she beautifully plays with angles and arches, points and columns, windows and water. The book feels like a walk through a city, each page turn like rounding a new corner.

A joyful look at our cities and the beauty to discover there. Appropriate for ages 4-6.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great photography, with rhyming verse as this book explores the look of cities in nature from the viewpoint of people who design city landscapes and structures.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm always a fan of Sayre's books. In short rhymes and a plethora of photographs, she points out features of cities, makes the reader think about what's under the surface, and gives a sense of the intentionality and history of city structures. Buildings, structures, plants, water, and sky are featured - people do appear throughout, but only in the background and they are not the focus.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the concept -- crisp photographs showing the science and art of city architecture and planning. But the execution didn't work for me -- the photos seemed static instead of living and the words were simple but not truly compelling. Maybe if it hadn't tried to rhyme?

It was a good picture book but required a lot of work from the adult reading it to address the connection between science and art, and the backmatter would only help a little.

[Olivia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Please see my full review here: https://www.yabookscentral.com/kidsfi...

CITYSCAPE is a photographic journey through interesting views in cities, including bridges, mirror windows, levers, and pulleys. The text is minimal throughout and forms a sparse poem, allowing the photographs to speak largely for themselves. The book concludes with questions and ideas for how to explore the cities near you.

What I loved: The photographs here are stunning, and this is a lovely book just to flip through. There is a lot of interesting things for children to point out and discuss with regards to architecture and construction. Many things are both beautiful and useful, like bridges and some parking garages. This would even be a great coffee table book. The text is pretty sparse and poetic, allowing the photos to stand on their own. As a result, the pages could turn as fast as the eyes can explore the images. Many ages of children (and adults) could enjoy this book as well. A particular favorite with our little one is the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile which appears on a bridge, but there are lots of really cool things to explore.

What left me wanting more: As a minor point, I would have liked to have additional context for the images on each image, such as of the cities they were taken in and/or the structures shown. Some are pretty recognizable, but there are a lot that I don't know and would be cool to learn more about.

Final verdict: A lovely collection of photographs, CITYSCAPE explores the beauty of architecture that can be found in cities. This is a book that could appeal to many ages.

Please note that I received an ARC. All opinions are my own.

[Stephanie Bange · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another wonderful addition to April Pulley Sayre's canon of picture book non-fiction for young children.

Spare rhyming text and crisp beautiful full-color photographs of details seen in the city capture the line, shape, form, rhythm, and images that can be found in the city. These include shadows and reflections, things stationary and transitory, in all states of matter, in light and dark.

Sayre offers forty "Questions to ponder as you wander" in the back of the book to extend this visual tour of the city. These can offer inspiration and a starting place for further study on a variety of topics, including trees and their use in the city, architecture and building construction, public spaces, ecology in the city, city planning, urban wildlife, and map-making.

Recommended for PreSchool-grade 2.

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nonfiction picture book. This book is beautifully illustrated with full-color photographs that show structures, shapes, and concepts that make up a city. While the photographs are lovely, with bright colors and crisp lines, the text is minimal and doesn't add much. It would be great to have a deck of cards with these photos that could be matched/sorted (find two cards with triangles, two cards with glass, etc) but I didn't love it as a picture book. There is a list of questions in the back that would be good for a class to reflect on in a structures or community unit, but the list of where the photographs are taken is hard to read. I would have preferred a small note on each page that the reader could refer to. Overall it has potential for art or STEM but would definitely need to be read by older students or with an adult to guide understanding.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

I still remember when my 7th grade art teacher (who was a little crazy, like all good art teachers) made the impassioned plea to us to understand that art is all around us -- then she made us read articles about the Spiral Jetty because we were "rowdy."

But the point is, I still remember what she said and I've thought about that ever since. All the way through my college degree in Art History I came back to this thought and I often wish that others understood this. I loved this very simple informational picture book that shows how art, nature, science, math, and engineering all overlap to create cities. I hope this book, with its simple text and stunning photographs, will help inspire young readers to look for art all around them.

[Viviane Elbee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was excited to see this book because I love April Pulley Sayre's other photography books. This book has great photos again. There is minimal text in the main part of the book, but the text invites young ones to really explore the photo, observe the art and guess at what science might be involved in the construction or in the photo. At the end of this book there are three pages of back-matter with a series of extra questions to think about when exploring towns and cities on your own. There is also a list of all the places that were photographed.

[Raven Black · Rating 2 out of 5]

The photographs are nice, but I did not always understand what they were trying to represent. Things were crowded and busy. I did not always feel they fit the theme of the text/the book as a whole. I was looking for something else (I think just a more straight forward "Here is a lovely arc, and the science of an arch...") Some images will be recognizable (the lions of a certain library, Rockefeller Center) but it is just very generic.

[Mrs. Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's so easy to appreciate a picture book with photographs of objects and places from all around the world. This particular book also features simple, yet excellent text paired with the photograph spreads, and is careful to put emphasis on the role of art , engineering, technology, and architecture in urban development. This is an excellent book.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is my favorite yet of Sayre’s photographic concept books. The details and angles in her photographs indicate a keenly observant eye, a person who really thinks about cities and structures and people. She loves texture and pattern, and there’s a lot of that, but this is way more than a “look what I found!” collection of city snaps. Nice.

[Miss Pippi the Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to use this at storytime, but it's more identifying words then rhyming words or a story. Lots of GREAT words for vocabulary building. Amazing city pictures to show a great variety. This might be better as a one on one book or a classroom book for kids to explore and take their time.

Reviewed from a library copy.

[Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great variety of strong photographs of elements of a city.

I'm not sure what age group would be best for this book. The majority of the book is simple text and then the last two pages go a lot more in-depth.

Really appreciated the listing of where the photos were from.

[Rebecca Plaza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shape and line in the city are celebrated in this photo-based STEAM book. Should be used in every level classroom to remind the reader of the visual and literary delight around us in the city-esp. Chicago- the starring city of this fine book!

[Debra Golden · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting photos connect objects and places to math, nature and engineering. Lots of questions are offered--lots!
Good images to start conversations and pursue deeper examination.
It's one to look at again an again.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Photography is amazing! This book has a vocabulary that is rich.

[Syntha Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful photography with poetry, excellent combination.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for concepts.

[Pinky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Art and science abound in harmony to keep life goimg and make it pretty in the city.

[Tracie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Architectural features and rhyming text make this a powerhouse for STEAM.

[kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

liked this much more than I thought, it was a perfect opportunity to go over some great vocabulary words with my 5yo

[Carrie Jacobs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved looking at the details of architecture in an excellent for at for kids.

[Margaret Boling · Rating 4 out of 5]

7/11/2023 ~ This would be a brilliant read aloud. The photos and illustrations have so many ideas to revisit.

[Maeve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful photographs and a lovely poem showcase how architecture combines both science and art.

[Allie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another fun APS non-fiction book illustrated with really lovely photos. The text is fine, but it doesn’t quite work as well as some of her others. Which is a bummer because it’s ostensibly about so many things I love (STEAM, art, architecture, cities, etc). Meh.

[Jacqui · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the photos.

[Judy Ripke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this book for building vocabulary with my students. I like the way the author encourages children to think of questions as they walk through the city.