Book Description
for Built to Last by David Macaulay
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
This volume brings together newly revised text and illustrations for three of David Macaulay’s earlier works: Castle, Cathedral, and Mosque. All three are about fictional (rather than historically specific) buildings, but informative text and illustrations focus on the facts of how such buildings were constructed and, just as important, the human dimension of their creation. Each type of building served as a focal point for communities in medieval societies in Europe and the Muslim empire. The end result is a cohesive volume that takes readers through the middle ages, moving from west to east across the map of Europe as it offers insight into each society and fascinating, detailed information on how each structure was built. Revisions to the artwork add color and decrease the sometimes overwhelming visual detail of Castle and Cathedral , in addition to correcting mistakes in perspective or scale. Macaulay’s marvelous introduction discussing how he approached this revision project is a wonderful testament to the ongoing creative process and his own artistic integrity in a work that inspires appreciation for human achievement. (Age 10 and older)
CCBC Choices 2011. © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2011. Used with permission.