Billions of Bricks: A Counting Book about Building

An amazing feat of architecture and artistry that kids will pore over long after the last brick has been laid.

PreS-Gr 2--Builders. Counters. Gather round to share this book where bricks abound. As workers make bricks, mix mortar, and build increasingly complex structures, Cyrus's pulsing rhythm and infectious rhyme drive their efforts forward. Six bricks on the first pages grow to piles of tens, patterns of four, then hundreds forming arches and stairs. Against the earth-tone palette of the bricks themselves, splotches of color from hard hats and overalls identify the laborers. Among the workers who reappear in many scenes are the original three--a boy, a man, and a woman--who can be spotted on each spread. Variations in type size automatically generate emphasis in read-aloud renditions, which seem essential. Individual readers can peruse the complex illustrations of building sites for increased enjoyment. The impeccable design is apparent even on the title pages, where bricks form words and the youngest worker walks past a window. VERDICT This impressive melding of illustrations and text that celebrates hard work and building deserves a place in general collections and on read-aloud shelves.--Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State University Library, Mankato

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Cyrus elevates the humble brick in more ways than one in an effervescent picture book set at a busy construction site, where hard hat-wearing men, women, and children build a palatial structure. First, though, the bricks need to be made: "Dig the clay./ Squish it thick./ Take a mold and make a brick./ Dump it out./ Let it dry./ Stoke the oven way up high," writes Cyrus. There's an impressive dimensionality to the structures on display and beauty in the subtle variations in the bricks' rosy hues. Readers aren't explicitly asked to do any counting, but it's almost impossible to resist diving into the architecturally theatrical images to tally the arches, columns, and porticos that take shape. Cyrus's rollicking rhymes ("Two, four, six./ A million, billion bricks./ Columns, walls, shopping malls, / halls of politics") and elegant artwork should delight playroom block stackers and someday builders and architects alike. Ages 4-7. (Oct.)

Copyright 2016 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Readers will have fun shouting out repetitive lines and locating specific workers from page to page. The bouncy rhythm and energetic action make this a fantastic pick for a group story time.

A Kirkus Best Picture Book of the Year
A JLG Selection
An Oregon Spirit Award Honor Book