As a dork-wad of a child who wore overalls, T-shirts and cowboy boots to school, it should come as little surprise that my best friends all lived at the Fort Smith Public Library.
The children’s section of the library was in the basement of the building, and I went down there long after I could fit by butt into the tiny chairs and my knees below the munchkin tables they had there for story time.
The reason I haunted the children’s library was for books by David Macaulay.
Three of his books – “City,” “Cathedral” and “Castle” – were my constant companions at home and at school. I have no doubt that I checked out those books at the circulation desk more than any other dork in the public library system.
If you aren’t familiar with Macaulay’s books, they are the gateway drug to a full-time obsession with building things, using tools and designing structures. All three books have storylines that trace the history of a fictional city, cathedral and castle – from its planning to its destruction or abandonment.
The characters are both the people who plan and build these places, and the structures themselves. But the real stars of the books are Macaulay’s illustrations. I would stare at and sometimes try to copy some of my favorite parts of the books, especially in “Castle.” I remember even building some of the structures with my friend Chip Paris using Legos, wooden blocks and our siblings’ board books.
Macaulay’s books inspired me to build things. My dad’s carpentry books showed me how. And the members of my extended family kept me from cutting my fingers off in the process.
Books for children have been heavy on my mind for the last few months because we at Lost Art Press have been working on getting a children’s book published. As I’m typing this, we’re uploading the book’s electronic files to our printer. Next week, I’ll have the full details on this particular title, and we will begin to take pre-orders for this magnificent book from a French author.
So next time you are at the library, be sure to check out Macaulay’s books there – or perhaps you could even buy a set for some young builder in your life. And stay tuned to the blog for news on our children’s book, which will be released at the end of September.
— Christopher Schwarz
Hi Chris,
Did you find the chair would stick to your anatomy when you went to leave? I did. Glad to see I’m not the only one that fell in love with David’s works. He was an inspiration for me to begin my apprenticeship with the Amish as a Barn Wright. A passion that lead to a life with wood.
My copy, (if not somewhere on my son’s desk,) happily lives next to a hard cover copy of “Shelter,” “The Wizard’s Eye,” “Handmade House,” and their ilk. If I ever publish something, I hope you and your team will be part of it.
Peace,
Jay
…and you think that you were bad! I remember when these books were “TV Specials” (on PBS, I think!). 🙂
Great news! Congratulations for being in the vanguard on this. Perhaps this will get kids out in the yard playing with Tonka Trucks in the dirt (or pestering us in the workshop) instead of staring into a gaming device/computer. There seems to be a dearth practical books/media aimed at younger audiences to foster these skills, and therefore they (the skills) lose value within our society as these children mature. This trend desperately needs to be reversed!
Those books are great. And they have lead me to Eric Sloan “Diary of an American Boy,” “A Reverence for Wood,” etc. then to Mario Salvadori’s “Why Buildings Stand Up,” Why Buildings Fall Down,” and “The Art of Construction.”
Thanks for Sparking THOSE memories. 🙂
Diary of an Early American boy is one of my favorites. Just a few years ago I bought a new copy. I can vaguely remember reading it in grade school, though maybe I was reading of Sloane’s other books. I have 9 or 10 Sloane books that I hope my little girl will read when she is old enough, she already likes looking at the pictures.
I was a little older, but I also fell in love with Macauley’s books. Some tried teasing me for reading kid’s books, but I didn’t care. They really aren’t children’s books at all, and I’m betting that the LAP title won’t be either.
Instead of buying a copy for myself, as I have with all your other releases, I imagine I’ll be purchasing a bunch of these to give away — including to my local library.
I have never seen those books, but I’ll have to find them once I get back from work. A thumbs up for the idea of some childrens litterature.
Just looking at the picture makes me want to build something big and everlasting.
I have his books. Maybe they were written for kids, but they sure helped me get a basic understanding of the process before I started reading more in depth books on the subjects.
Now when I go into a cathedral or castle, I imagine what the wood scaffolding would have looked like during construction.
Last year I attended the ATC class at Dictum in Germany. My father and I asked the Prior of the monestary if we could see the roof structure. He gave us the grand tour throug all the attics and lofts of the monestary. It was extremely fascinating.
Regarding the wooden scaffoldings, I guess there wasn’t an official policy regarding workers safety in those days.
Amen and amem. I too have very fond memories of stalking those books on library visits. Macaulay’s “The Way Things Work” was probably one of the more influential books in this engineer’s childhood.
Harvey the Carpenter is a great children’s book that’s geared towards younger kids. It’s about a beaver who builds a tool tote with hand tools. How cool is that?! Plus it’s a great simple project to get you’re kids interested in woodworking. My 3 year old daughter loves the book and can name all of the tools Harvey uses throughout the book.
http://us.macmillan.com/harveythecarpenter/LarsKlinting
Gateway drug, hunh? Well, then, that explains some things… I loved those books. I also found Dad’s copy of The Woodwright’s (somethingoranother) at an impressionable age.
Great post. Way back in grad school I was writing a paper on David Macaulay’s books for a children’s lit course and by luck he happened to be in town to promote a book. I met him briefly and was able to ask a few questions. I was a little thrown off that he was wearing TV makeup for a book signing attended by 30 or so people, but what the heck. To each his own.
Much like the PWW writers he has a sense of humor. Check out his, “Motel of the Mysteries” where he has fun with modern archeology by imaging a “dig” on an old motel room. The bathtub is some kind of sarcophagus and the toilet seat was obviously some kind of ceremonial head dress: http://people.virginia.edu/~sfr/enlt214m/mystmotel.html
“Motel of the Mysteries” is the first Macaulay book I ever owned. Hilarious. As is “Baa” — sort of an Orwellian tale.
I also repeatedly checked out Castle, Cathedral, and City from the library as a kid. But I hadn’t heard of Motel of the Mysteries until now; I’ll have to find that.
I’m still enthralled by macauleys books as an adult. If you’re not already familiar with them you should also check out Huck Scarry’s books on railroads. He is Richard Scarry’s son.
I will no longer wonder if having Macaulay’s “Castles” on my woodworking bookshelf is not the right thing. 🙂
In addition to the classics already mentioned, I also like “Mill” (3 generations of textile mills) and “Unbuilding” (dismantling of the Empire State Building for its transfer to Middle East. “Ship” (caravel from the 15th century) was good too..