CONSTRUCTION

Sutton and Lovelock are back for more fun combining dynamic text and illustrations for little builders.

From digging the foundation’s first holes to putting on the final coat of paint, workers construct a new building from the ground up. Sutton’s rhythm and rhyming text pulsates, moving the pace along briskly. “Dig the ground. Dig the ground. / Bore down in the mud.” Onomatopoeia rounds out each stanza: “Shove the piles in one by one. / Slip! SLAP! THUD!” Bold, bright illustrations convey the scope of the effort and machinery required to lift stacks of lumber or sheets of plate glass into place. As in the team’s previous Roadwork (2008), Lovelock shows plenty of women and people of color working on the construction site. The perspective changes effectively, allowing readers to look down from above the scene or to crouch low to look up at the machines. After the final coat of paint is spread, movers start to bring in boxes of books, as the new building will be a local library: “The library’s here for everyone. / Ready…STEADY…READ!” A final page includes facts about both machines and construction workers’ special clothing.

There’s always room for one more good construction book: Make a spot for this one.