Who says a book can't be hilarious and educational at the same time? Iggy Peck, Architect is so much fun, readers hardly realize they are learning between their laughs. The humor ranges from the characters' facial expressions, Iggy's funky hairdo, to a two-year-old Iggy standing proud - sans pants (no worries, his booty is to the readers) - admiring his dirty diaper tower. Direct rhymes throughout the book provide a steady reading cadence, making the story as much fun to hear as it is to read! Iggy accomplishes some amazing feats, such as building a giant sphinx out of dirt clods in his backyard, to building churches and chapels out of peaches and apples! However, his most impressive feat is when he designs a bridge out of "boots, tree roots and strings, fruit roll-ups and things..." to save his classmates from being trapped on an island. Iggy demonstrates how architecture is useful in the real world.
The illustrations are an excellent learning resource for your little one. The pictures are drawn with many lines and nearly-perfect shapes, much like an architectural drawing. Many of the lines are so precise and plentiful that it's hard to tell if it's drawn or a multi-media picture. See if your child (or YOU, for that matter) can copy some of the patterns seen in the pictures. The final few pages are lined like graph paper, with heights, lengths, and other measurements of the drawings marked. This is a wonderful tool to introduce your child to since it shows subjects they will learn about in school and can apply to real life. There are also many new words in this book that your child is likely to ask you about; the obvious one being 'architect,' but also 'trestle,' 'burble,' 'vague,' 'suspension,' 'Romanesque,' and many more.
My niece Emily is now five and in kindergarten, so I thought she may be old enough to appreciate this book. I brought it over while babysitting one day, along with some of my husband's graph paper, pencils, and a ruler. I wanted Emily to see that what Iggy does is real, and it is something she can do as well. After reading the book, I asked Emily if she wanted to 'draw like Iggy' on the graph paper. I showed her how to try and use the lines to guide her. Although she is not the architectural prodigy that Iggy is, but she did have a blast trying to stay inside the lines (she was close enough!).
--Audra