Roberto, The Insect Architect by Nina Laden

Roberto, The Insect Architect

Features

Reading level: Baby-Preschool

Cover Type: Hard Cover with 40 pages

Published by: Chronicle Books; Library Binding edition September 2000

Written in: English

ISBN 10 Number: 0811824659

ISBN 13 Number: 978-0811824651

Book Dimensions: 10 x 9.7 x 0.5 inches

Weighs: 1 pounds

Product 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.

Reader Reviews
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! Comment | | (Report this)

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Updated on 6-4-2008.