Children's Book Reviews

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Fishing in the Air by Sharon Creech, Illustrated by Chris Raschka
HarperCollins, September 2000.
Picture Book, 32 pages
Ages 4-8
ISBN: 0060281111.
Ordering information:
Amazon.com.

Fishing in the Air
by Sharon Creech, Illustrated by Chris Raschka

Fishing in the Air is more than an adult telling a story about fishing with his father. It is a story full of poetry and feeling. It is also a story sensitive to the things that are special to young boys, doing things together with their fathers. Shared activity with a father is always dear to a boy's heart, and this little story celebrates those feelings on many levels.

It is the memory of a father who pointed out how the street lamps "looked like tiny moons all in a row". On nearly every page of this story is a simile or a metaphor that an adult can enjoy with a child. Each page can be a new adventure in seeing the poetry in adventure.

The story itself, stripped down to the plot, is how a father remembers how his father got him up early while it was still dark, helped him dig for worms, pack a lunch and drive to a special place for a day of fishing. Along the way the father points out all the beauties of nature, and then remembers his own father and the house in which he grew up. All of the mystery of the stories an adult tells a listening child are evoked. The important details are the feelings that the memories bring forth. In a very real way, if you have ever wondered what going fishing was really all about, this little story will explain it so you can understand. Fishing is so much more than catching fish. It is shared feelings that can only be expressed through simile and metaphor. That is perhaps the real reason that those who love to fish can never put into words what going fishing really means.

--Sarah Reaves White

Frank O. Gehry: Outside In by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan
DK Ink, September 2000.
Hardcover, 48 pages
Ages 9 and up
ISBN: 0789426773.
Ordering information:
Amazon.com.

Frank O. Gehry: Outside In
by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan

"Life is chaotic, dangerous and inspiring. Buildings should reflect it." So says Frank O. Gehry, the renowned and controversial architect who created the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, and Paul Allen's Experience Music Project in Seattle. Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan have created a compelling portrayal of the architect who is now being labeled a genius by many. Gehry was an athletic child, whose grandfather was a Talmudic scholar. The anti-Semitism that Gehry endured during his Canadian childhood was to have a profound influence on his life, as was the happy influence of the happy times he and his beloved grandmother spent building mock cities with scrap wood and metal. When Gehry renovated his first home in Santa Monica, California, his neighbors hated the edifice so much that they got up petitions to tear it down. But now it's a draw, as busloads of tourists come by to ogle the house and take photos.

With striking photographs and drawings of Gehry's designs, and commentary from the architect himself, Greenberg and Jordan provide an interesting inside look at one of the world's most famous architects. Especially interesting is the behind the scenes look at how the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao was created out of titanium, using the three-dimensional imaging computer program developed by the French aerospace industry to design fighter planes, CATIA. Critics tend to either love or hate Gehry's designs; few people feel lukewarm about his work. But regardless of your opinion of his architectural style, there is no question that his work is influential, and understanding the man himself is a key to understanding his art.

--Claire E. White

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Children's Book Reviews

Fishing in the Air by Sharon Creech, Illustrated by Chris Raschka

Frank O. Gehry: Outside In by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan