WHAT’S INSIDE?

Bas-relief cut-paper collages and brief text take readers on a tour of unique architectural structures around the world. Undeviating in its organization, this volume first presents an illustration and prose description of a building or structure, followed by the phrase “What’s Inside?” The following page reveals the answer again in picture and prose. For example, after a picture of a stepped pyramid with a door in the bottom and a brief description, readers discover, on the following page, that the pyramid is a Mayan temple featuring a red jaguar throne with jade spots and eyes. Sidebars provide some basic facts including the name of each building, its location, date of construction, materials, its status today and a “little known fact.” Vocabulary and sentence structure suggest a target audience of older children, but the lack of depth and detail suggest otherwise and render this one too superficial for most school assignments. Unfortunately, the intricate collage illustrations and question/answer format are not enough to make this a likely leisure-reading favorite either. (Informational picture book. 6-10)