What's Inside? [Hardcover]

Giles Laroche (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 6 and up | Grade Level: 1 and up

As it takes us on a tour of some of the most unique and beautiful structures, this book shows how the purpose of each structure dictated its design, or location. Here are soaring glass skyscrapers (for working people) and a humble stone barn (for working animals); a sealed tomb hewn out of a limestone hillside (for buried reasure) and a majestic marble building, honoring a goddess. As it reveals what lies inside each structure, this book gives insight into the people who designed these buildings -- into their hopes, their lives, and their concepts of beauty. Included -- for budding engineers and architects -- are statistics such as the year built, square footage, materials used, height, and other little known statistics.

Structures included are: Tomb of Tutankamumn in Thebes, Egypt The Parthenon in Athens, Greece Temple of Kukulcan in Chichen Itza, Mexico Buddha's Place in Shanxi Province, China Walled city of Toldeo in Spain Alcazar Castle in Segovia, Spain Independence Hall in Philadelphia Shaker dairy barn in Hancock, MA A Circus big top tent, which traveled to many American cities The Guggenhem Museum in NYC The Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia The Petrona Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia The Georgia Aquarium in Georgia, Atlanta

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 3–7—This beautiful book presents interior and exterior views of 14 extraordinary structures, from King Tut's tomb and the Temple of Kukulcan to the Sydney Opera House and the Georgia Aquarium. Each one is first shown and described from the outside—but not identified—until the question is posed: "What's inside?" The next page identifies the building and answers the question, offering specifics about what is happening in this picture, with salient facts such as the name, location, date of construction, materials, etc., listed in the left margin. The text is good, the organization is clever, but it's the art here that is truly masterful. The illustrations are made from layers and layers of cut and painted paper, and in fact may be considered sculpture—the visible dimensionality gives each page a deep tactile quality. Animals, people, domestic scenes, and landscapes both natural and manmade are depicted with skill and charm: the intricacy of this art will hold readers spellbound. The book is brought to a satisfying close with a loving re-creation of a North American small-town street and the interior of a lighted room in which two children create ziggurats and temples out of blocks and read What's Inside?—Paula Willey, Baltimore County Public Library, Towson, MD
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

From King Tutankamun’s tomb in Egypt to a Mayan temple in Mexico, from the Sydney Opera House in Australia to the Petronas Twin Towers in Malaysia, this handsome picture book introduces famous constructions, one building at a time. Each right-hand page features an outside view of a landmark building with a brief caption, accompanied by the tantalizing question, “What’s inside?” Turn the page, and the answer is there in a big, amazingly detailed collage composition, accompanied by a sidebar filled with facts, such as each building’s name, location, date of construction, materials, architects, and the building's current use. In his first book as both author and illustrator, Laroche uses his trademark collage technique, combining drawing, painting, and cut-paper. This isn’t a lift-the-flap, question-and-answer title to browse through quickly. The minute detail celebrates the awe-inspiring constructions with a focus reminiscent of David Macaulay’s work. This will have many grade-schoolers poring over the pages for a long time. Grades 4-8. --Hazel Rochman

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 6 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children (April 6, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618862471
• ISBN-13: 978-0618862474
• Product Dimensions: 12.8 x 9.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #639,837 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing art. Great world geography lesson., March 28, 2009

By 

Michelle Bailey "Mom of 2 boys" (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: What's Inside? (Hardcover)

My family saw Giles LaRoche at our public library. The original 3-D art work for this book is amazing. The flat pictures in the book are equally impressive. It has been 2 months since the presentation, my children are still talking about the Tomb page and the Tower in Indonesia.
Giles also visited our school's kindergarten class. The paper cut homes done by the class were very detailed (for their age). If you are an art teacher, this would be a great addition to your library.
The facts in the book are higher level reading, so you will need to read it to younger students. There are many interesting details about each location.

5.0 out of 5 stars This was an exciting, educational tour of many different types of structures found around the world!, January 31, 2010

By 

D. Fowler "Dragonfly77" (Vermont) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: What's Inside? (Hardcover)

Sometimes the outside of a structure can belie the amazing things that can be seen or discovered inside. Take for example, the seemingly uncomplicated view archaeologist Howard Carter had of a simple sealed door. It didn't really look like much at all, but when the sealed door was opened for the first time it revealed the amazing tomb of King Tutankamun. The stunning discovery wowed the archaeological world because the tomb's "treasures included the king's mummy, a painted wood state of his head, gold and silver chests and chariots, chairs and even food." What you see is not always what you get.

This book is one of discovery. You are presented with the frontis of a building and are asked who or what is inside. This is where the reader's learning experience begins. The reader will not only have a visual of what is behind the first picture, but will also learn many other things about a particular structure. He or she will learn its name, location, date of construction, the dimensions, what materials were used in its construction, where it can be visited today and a "little known fact" about it.

Structures that were explored include the Tomb of Tutankamun, The Parthenon (Temple of Athena Polias), the Temple of Kukulcan (Él Castillo), Sakyamuni Pagoda (Wooden Pagoda), Puerta del Sol (Gate of the Sun or the Blacksmith's Gate), Alcazar (castle) of Segovia, Independence Hall, a Shaker dairy barn, a circus tent or "big top," the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Sydney Opera House, Petronas Twin Towers, the Georgia Aquarium, and a little surprise behind a lit room under a slate-shingled roof.

This was an exciting, educational tour of many different types of structures found around the world. I enjoyed pausing to think about who or what might be behind a door or inside a structure before actually turning the page to find out what was hidden there. On the next page there was a cut away or peek inside each structure. Some of these illustrations were quite detailed and, without exception, very fascinating. The illustration of the inside of the Sydney Opera house, a bas-relief cut-paper collage like every one in this book, was stunning. This trip around the world was a lot of fun and, by default, amazingly educational!

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, November 16, 2009

By 

Tess Rose - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: What's Inside? (Hardcover)

My child found this book very interesting. It really made her curious and kept her attention.