UP! UP! UP! SKYSCRAPER - Anastasia Suen

Writing a Small Poem

What’s the story? When my “building a house” small poem became the Raise the Roof picture book, I thought I was done with construction books, but my architect husband was working on a skyscraper and that made me curious! How did they make tall buildings stand up straight? (The Tower of Pisa is leaning to one side!)

This question led to more and with his expert advice, a new small poem became the picture book Up! Up! Up! Skyscraper! My clever editor wanted the last page of the book to fold up into a completed skyscraper, so the facts aren’t in the back after the poem like so many other books. In this book, the facts (and lots of labels) written in prose accompany the poem page by page.

I was so pleased when the California Reading Association gave this book a 2017 Eureka! Nonfiction Children’s Book Award. Then it made Amazon’s Children’s Architecture Books Top 100 list, so they filmed a preview video for it! That’s my SKYSCRAPER story.

Now it’s your turn! What is your SKYSCRAPER story?

7 Comments

Lou Piccolo Posted on9:37 pm - May 18, 2023

This is a book I definitely need to read as I am clueless as to how buildings are made! Also, I need to unfold that skyscraper at the end – what a cool idea.

janice scully Posted on5:05 am - May 19, 2023

Anastasia, what a wonderful book about a fascinating subject! I always wonder how skyscrapers came to be and always think if people can do that, they can do just about anything. In that way, they inspire me. I love “A building’s bones/ make it real.” I love the colorful artwork. Congratulations on the non-fiction award it received! It deserved it in so many ways.

Irene Latham Posted on5:18 am - May 19, 2023

Yay for skyscrapers and your skyscraper book! I do have a poem called “For the Builders”…here’s a link. https://ugc.padletcdn.com/uploads/padlet-uploads/69706625/f0b99ad03b9766390c190e1488d2d2b2/ARTSPEAK__Harlem_Renaissance_For_the_Builders_poem_Irene_Latham.jpg?token=3NWD8uswaqcuYKEQSG1eZCTcVVEsNgvG7FNi06rUqQykLYp-baIaSuvPbl1zyHEKyHsxucCcuMKxznY0HIky7mm0gGrcsfLBGOcXZm-m9lDcsvh60tvT2iaLUkv8a83DKsOAXY7xgF38VRCiMgXhfYWfW0XvvsNFMs1f1ahlDqJFBXxPMm5QW1mw2uS2omNcNRwF_ttioK5KwophpvcLSEr1Nq4c2JeoL95ku0_tNxgDhp_bvMk7RhbXMTXG3arfR7LVwllLpBtm47fE_lkuLGnOyF-WRXkhPh7Wsa1lBrpNwWngT-oM2M6v5zqkctf-

Linda Baie Posted on6:46 am - May 19, 2023

I imagine there are many kids who would love this book, Anastasia, and probably I would learn from it, too. I don’t know much about the building of them! I don’t have much of a story, have only been to the top of the Empire State Building as far as skyscrapers go. It would be amazing to travel to the top of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai!

PATRICIA J FRANZ Posted on3:58 pm - May 19, 2023

I will have to find this PB for my little grandson! So fun!

Linda Mitchell Posted on4:00 am - May 20, 2023

Love it! I found myself teaching the idea of backmatter to 7th graders yesterday. How wonderful that the idea became a poem became a book…so like a skyscraper and other buildings.

Karen Edmisten Posted on7:01 pm - May 22, 2023

Love that idea of a pop up at the end, Anastasia. 🙂