From School Library Journal
Grade 1-5–This picture book is a wonderful way to introduce young readers to a groundbreaking female architect. Luminescent illustrations, created using soft pastels and pencils in a golden-peach palette, appear to glow with the light of California and France, both seminal locations in Morgan's life. Informed by architecture, the paintings evoke Cézanne's attention to form: the folds of dresses, the curve of a mountain, a shadow over a hat. The opening spread shows a youngster constructing a geometric sandcastle while the text quietly states: Julia Morgan loved to build. The book highlights other significant moments: young Julia visiting construction sites with her engineer father; being the only woman in her engineering class at UC Berkeley in the 1890s; her pride at receiving a certificate in architecture from Paris's École des Beaux-Arts; her return to San Francisco and early career. The last half of the book is devoted to the construction of William Randolph Hearst's San Simeon. Mannis points out that Morgan's creations are solidly built and noted for their enduring beauty. Filled with rich vocabulary, the narrative employs scrumptious architectural terms such as Baroque, flying buttresses, and teakwood cornice. An inspiring tale and encouragement for someday builders.
–Teresa Pfeifer, Alfred Zanetti Montessori Magnet School, Springfield, MA Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
The fruits of architects' labors--from pyramids to skyscrapers--have been celebrated more frequently in picture books than architects themselves. Mannis' choice of subject, the first female graduate of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, fills this void nicely, as the "little something" Morgan built for William Randolph Hearst on a California hilltop anchors the life story in a lavish project that will snare children's imaginations. The lively narrative crystallizes the struggles against the gender bias Morgan encountered and brings the details of a large-scale building site to a child's level, such as the movie screenings that entertained the castle's live-in construction crew. The book's large format and Hyman's full-bleed paintings capture the grandeur of both Morgan's aspirations and the dramatic landscapes in which she worked. A concluding photo of the finished structure would have been nice, as would notes about the provenance of material in quotations, but the unsung heroine and the handsome, engaging presentation counterbalance these missteps.
Jennifer MattsonCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
