SKYSCRAPER

Between a view of the Chrysler Building and a to-scale gallery of present and future behemoths, Curlee offers an opinionated survey of more than a dozen skyscrapers and their architects, chronicling the “rise” of both over the past century and a half of building big. The blocky, stylized structures in his paintings are evocatively monumental, but his soaring tribute is likely to leave readers behind—unless they’re conversant with undefined architectural terms like “pier” and “pylon,” and don’t mind a text laced with names that are seldom accompanied by any biographical details. An index and resource list would have been fitting. A grand tale, but children seeking specifics, or more than the occasional glimpse inside the walls, will prefer Carol A. Johnson’s hands-on Skyscrapers! Super Constructions to Design and Build (2001), or Chris Oxlade’s Skyscrapers (2006), with its cutaways and plastic overlays. (Nonfiction. 9-11)