Young Frank, Architect

Young Frank, Architect

By Frank Viva

40 pages; ages 4 - 8

Abrams (and Museum of Modern Art), 2013

Young Frank is an aspiring architect. He lives with his dog and his grandpa, Old Frank, who is also an architect. Young Frank likes to build things out of materials at hand. When he makes a chair out of toilet-paper tubes, Old Frank says architects don’t make chairs. “And you can’t really sit in this one, can you?”

When Young Frank builds a skyscraper out of books, Old Frank says it is too wiggly; buildings should be straight. Seems like nothing Young Frank designs is “right”, and he decides to give up being an architect. But grandpa suggests a trip to the museum – the Museum of Modern Art – where they find a wiggly chair designed by an architect named Frank. Also a twisted tower by another architect named Frank. The book ends with the boy and his grandfather building things together.

By the last page the apartment is full of things the two architects create. The drawings are whimsical, which helps lighten the story, and at the end there are notes about architects, including (of course) Frank O. Gehry and Frank Lloyd Wright. 

If you've got a kid who loves to build things out of blocks (or toilet paper tubes and cereal boxes) and also loves to draw, this book might inspire some conversation about the connections between creativity, art, and design. It might inspire him - or her - to draft a design before embarking on the next construction project. Remember to drop by STEM Friday for more books, resources and ideas. Review copy provided by publisher.