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BUILDING MACHINES by Ian Graham

BUILDING MACHINES

An Interactive Guide to Construction Machines

by Ian Graham ; illustrated by Carles Ballestros

Pub Date: April 5th, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2109-0
Publisher: Abrams

Nine construction vehicles assembled on a pegboard with heavy cardboard pieces provide early practice for budding builders and engineers.

To show the finished machines in action, stylized cartoon illustrations depict a construction crew, diverse of gender and skin tone, demolishing an old structure, putting up a school, and paving a road. Simple text describes how each machine works, with additional text carefully chosen for maximum audience engagement: “Smash! The swinging ball hits the wall and knocks it over.… / Explosives are also used to bring down tall buildings.” Machines are pictured from the side view with a flattened perspective that makes details pop. Instructions with diagrams run below for building flat but functional models of the wrecking ball, bulldozer, cement mixer, and other vehicles featured in each scene on the detachable pegboard sheet. The punch-out pieces, gears, wheels, and plastic screws come in an attached box, which can do double duty for storage as the pegboard is big enough only for one machine at a time.

A hands-on alternative to Sally Sutton and Brian Lovelock’s Construction (2014) and the plethora of like building-site visits

. (Picture book/kit. 6-8)