Apartment Book [Hardcover]

Leo Hartas (Author), Richard Platt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 9, 1995 | Age Level: 6 and up

Removing the front of a busy apartment building to offer readers a perspective on what happens in a particularly chaotic one, a detailed picture book reveals a dubious plumbing system, several eccentric tenants, and a mystery.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 1-4?An elegant townhouse divided into five apartments is the setting for this visual round of visits. Readers turn the book sideways for an introduction to the apartments, the parts of the building, and the people who live and work there?all seen through cutaway watercolor art. Sidebars provide closeups of the continuing stories. The drama begins at 7:00 a.m. and ends at 1:00 a.m. Within these hours, one family moves in, one family loses a cat, an eccentric scientist blows up his experiment, and the people on the first floor hold a huge party. The famous movie star on the fourth floor suffers water damage, the alligator in the sewer underneath the building is finally caught, and the burglars who walk off with a Picasso return to the scene of the crime to make the party scene. Children who enjoy picture puzzles and exploring cross-sections will find some amusing details here, but there is nothing to compell readers to take more than one look.?Susan Pine, New York Public Library
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 6 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: DK CHILDREN (September 9, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789401975
• ISBN-13: 978-0789401977
• Product Dimensions: 14 x 10.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #620,975 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Neat book, April 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Apartment Book (Hardcover)

This is a really fun book. It shows the happenings of the inhabitants of an apartment building: 3 families, 1 movie star, an artist, and a scientist. Plus, you get to follow the days of the 2 workmen. Watch as the scientist's apartment blows up, reporters interview the movie star, one family has a party, another moves in, and many, many more events. This book is fun to look at again and again. You can follow the day of just one person, or check up on the doings of all the residents. It'd recommend it to anyone of any age.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Day in the Life of an Apartment House, August 26, 2007

By 

Ms. Elaine Forster (Spokane, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Apartment Book (Hardcover)

This is a marvelously interesting book for children who thrive on visual learning. It is an oversize book that depicts the daily details of the lives of the inhabitants living in a several story apartment building, beginning at 7 am and ending late in the evening. Turn the pages to discover the timeline during the day and the progression of events. Visually stimulated children can take hours to note all the details and follow each storyline endlessly. My 5/6 year old grandchildren find this book fascinating as they discuss each storyline and note details ranging from rats in the sewer to odd hairdos of the inhabitants, details of the big party to the progression of the burglars, water leaks, broken clocks, expolosion by the mad scientist and art in the making. They use their imagination a lot to create other scenarios and conclusions for the inhabitants. We love it! Those who only wish ro 'read' a book, following the words, will most likely use this book only a time or two.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Day in the Life of an Apartment House, June 2, 2005

By 

F. Orion Pozo "Orion Pozo" (Raleigh, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Apartment Book (Hardcover)

The Apartment Book is an oversize (11"x14") illustrated look into the daily life of an apartment building and its many residents. Each double page illustration shows a cutaway view of an old Victorian building that has five stories and a basement with six apartments. The residents vary, with three families on the first three floors, an actress and her maid on the fourth floor, and an artist and a crazy inventor in two small apartments on the fifth floor. The author has added the maintenance crew, a homeless person seeking temporary shelter, a couple of burglars, and even an alligator that prowls the sewers beneath the basement.

Each of the 14 illustrations shows the events in the house at different times of day, starting at 7 am and ending at one the following morning. The drawings are richly populated with interesting details and the dialog is neatly confined to the sidebars. This is a sumptuous treat for the visually inclined and the residents' stories will keep you interested to the very end. However, with all the activity depicted in this one day, it does not look like a place I would like to live in for long.