Roberto, The Insect Architect [Hardcover]

Nina Laden (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2000 | Age Range: 1 and up | Lexile Measure: 400L (What's this?)

Ever since he was a wee mite (a termite, that is), Roberto has wanted to be an architect. Discouraged by his wood-eating family and friends, he decides to follow his dream to the big, bug city. There he meets a slew of not-so-creepy, crawly characters who spark in him the courage to build a community for them all.

With stunning collage illustrations and witty text, the creator of the bestselling The Night I Followed the Dog, Private I. Guana, and When Pigasso Met Mootisse brings to life a funny and inspirational story that will encourage readers of any age to build their dreams.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"Even when Roberto was little, he went against the grain. Like most termites, he melted over maple, and pined for pine. Oak was okay, too. But Roberto didn't eat his food. He played with it."

Young Roberto has a burning desire to become an architect. Even when the other termites mock his ambition, Roberto is never derailed from his dream. So, like so many career-minded youth, this mite with a mission sets off for the big, buggy city. Here, sadly, he is thwarted by his heroes, Hank Floyd Mite and Fleas Van Der Rohe. But this inspired insect decides not to wallow in his sorrows but to help out other bugs with even greater problems. Soon, a fantastic, eclectic housing development is in the works. The mysterious architect chooses to remain anonymous, but ultimately can't avoid the grateful adulation of the carpenter ants, ladybugs, and house flies he has helped.

Nina Laden's fantastic collages use old catalog and magazine images, blueprints, cork veneer, and lots more, to create buildings, cities, and buggy creatures the likes of which you've never seen. The Leaning Tower of Pisa tilts away from the Empire State Building, with Gaudi's quirky sculptural edifices looming nearby. Some of the hilarious wordplay may fly over the heads of non-architects, but the overall humorous effect--and the go-for-your-goals message--will not be lost on anyone. For more charming and artistic pun-ishment, try Laden's When Pigasso Met Mootisse. (Ages 6 to 11) --Emilie Coulter

From Publishers Weekly

This good-natured tale, whose striking collages incorporate wood products and city photographs, introduces a termite who "went against the grain.... Roberto didn't eat his food. He played with it." While other termites picnic on "wood chips" and shotgun shacks, Roberto yearns to build with boards. He also exhibits a philanthropic streak. His first project is a neighborhood for homeless bugs, including a fireproof stone dwelling for a ladybug whose first house, per the nursery rhyme, burned down. Laden (When Pigasso Met Mootisse) wittily imagines a termite with a social conscience, one who ensures that bedbugs have "their very own beds." She incorporates woodworking tools into her bug-themed spreads and creates furniture from carefully cropped pieces of cork and veneer. Ant-like Roberto hunches over a mahogany-brown drafting table, busily drawing blueprints for a milk-carton shelter and a conical hive with neat circular windows. Even if children don't get the gags about Hank Floyd Mite (seated at a Guggenheim-shaped desk with a sketch of Fallingwater) and Fleas Van Der Rohe, nonstop insect quips and humorous bug house illustrations keep this book buzzing along. Ages 2-6. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 1 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books; First Edition edition (September 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811824659
• ISBN-13: 978-0811824651
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 0.4 x 9.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #89,073 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #69 in Books > Children's Books > Social Situations > Prejudice & Racism

More About the Author

Nina Laden grew up in the New York City area. She now lives in an old farmhouse in Seattle, which she renovated with her husband. She is the author and illustrator of many books for children.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Howard Roark for the termite set September 13, 2000

By Xeneri

Format:Hardcover

Insect architects! This is an inspired little story with theunlikely prospect of a termite who dreams of building with wood instead of eating it.... Roberto sets off for the big buggy city in search of his dream.

The story is encouraging, and the wordplay witty but it's the fantastically funky collages that win you over. Laden uses all sorts of images... to create unreal insect edifaces. You'll find yourself staring at the quirky seussian architecture and chuckling at all the in-jokes.

A treat for the eyes and very fun!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Quite lovely. August 23, 2005

By Robert P. Beveridge HALL OF FAMEVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Nina Laden, Roberto the Insect Architect (Chronicle, 2000)

There's something to be said for reading childrens' picture books every now and again. Childrens' authors can't get away with as much as adult authors can; for one thing, they generally have less room in which to get away with it (unless they are J. K. Rowling or Clive Barker, the vanguards of the burgeoning "childrens' doorstop" movement); for another, kids have an innate crap detector adults seem to get rid of as they get older. Reading chidlrens' books is a good way of grounding yourself, if you've gotten stuck in a rut of overly wordy stuff.

Roberto the Insect Architect is a fun one. (And note that a number of Amazon reviews of it have been posted by adults who own the book for themselves rather than their kids.) It's your basic "be yourself" kind of book, and reminds me in many ways of Randall Jarrell's brilliant The Bat-Poet. It's shorter, of course, being for a younger audience, and the points that are made are closer to the surface, but Laden still keeps things in hand by letting the story tell the story and giving visual cues that will make the reader of the intended age work (for example, Roberto's dream and its realization, which bookend the narrative in pictures instead of words). Worth reading for all ages. ****

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars My architect husband loves this book! August 8, 2003

By peachyqueen27

Format:Hardcover

My husband just recently purchased this book. We both love it! I love the story line and how Roberto does not quite fit in with the other termites. He follows his dreams, and eventually, parent termites want their kids to be just like him! The illustrations in this book are also great!