look inside construction sites

"Mom, a digger!" "Mom, an excavator!" "Mom, look! A grader!" I have two boys. One is 3, the other is approaching 5. I hear about construction machines all. day. long. It's gotten to the point now where, even if I'm out by myself, I'll point out construction machines I pass on the road. So when I saw that Usborne was releasing a brand new lift-the-flap book about construction sites (Look Inside Construction Sites, by Stefano Tognetti and Rob Lloyd Jones), half of me thought "wow, perfect!" and half of me thought, "oh man, another construction book for our collection?"

But I have to say, I love this book and am so glad we added it to our collection. Like all of Usborne's lift-the-flap books, this one is packed full of information. The illustrations are colorful and detailed, a blend of informational (like workers carrying a pipe to the site) and playful (like workers standing around drinking tea). This book would be worth it just for the surface content, but of course, the flaps add layers of engagement and detail that make it even better. 

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One of my favorite aspects of Look Inside Construction Sites is that the first two pages (but feels more like four with the layers of flaps) focus on the process of building a house. On the first page, you see the foundation process - prepping the land, digging trenches, pouring the foundation itself. Turn the page, and you see walls going up. One flap that's half the size of one page adds a layer of interior floors and exterior brick-laying; a flap almost the size of the facing page then overlays, with two flap layers, the roof beams and then the finishing elements. It's a concise, yet in-depth, dissection of the building process, all packed into these two pages!

From here, you get to see elements of building a skyscraper, examples of "super machines," the process of building a bridge, components of building roads and tunnels, and finally a glimpse of the demolition process. And each page has a different, creative layout of flaps to pile on the layers of exploration. 

​Ok, maaaybe my boys' fascination of construction sites has rubbed off on me. Or maybe I just can't resist a good book. :) My guess, though, is that it's a combination of the two;  Construction Sites teaches fascinating nuggets of information on each page and does it in a way that you can't help but read every caption and pore over every flap. 

It's that book that'll inspire you to stop at every construction site you see... and pull out the book on the spot to explain what you're watching. ​​

Book benefits:

• Combination of engaging illustrations and practical information mean your readers will be fascinated and learning at the same time!
• Flaps offer an impressive depth of information
• Sturdy hardcover binding and thick card stock pages will hold up to many, many readings
• Usborne Quicklinks page adds even more dimension with extra videos and games about construction process - definitely worth a look!

Buy Look Inside Construction Sites here! ($14.99, hardcover)

Want to check out more lift-the-flap books in the Usborne collection? You have about 70 to choose from! Peruse the collection here.