Calling All Construction Lovers 🏗

Construction People
Poems selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins & Illustrated by Ellen Shi
Age Level: 2-6 Years
Published March 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Best Picture Books of 2020
NCTE Notable Poetry Book

This sonnet is dedicated to my hard hat.

The most unique construction book I’ve ever read, Construction People is a masterful anthology of fourteen poems. You’re probably thinking, “Poetry?! About construction?!” Yes. And it’s phenomenal. The poems were selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins, a children’s writer and educator who compiled over 100 books of children’s poetry. Believing that poetry is a powerful teaching tool, he was a devoted promoter of its use in the classroom. Hopkins passed away in April of 2019, shortly before this book was printed.  

Construction People follows the trajectory of a magnificent skyscraper being built. The poems are arranged in order from initial vision to final reveal, with lots of excitement in between. There’s an all-star cast of dump truck drivers, backhoe operators, and cement mixers featured, often with onomatopoeia cleverly incorporated into the verse. But we really loved learning about the less celebrated, equally fascinating roles of glaziers, elevator installers, welders, and electricians. Each poem is delightfully fun and easy to follow; these are not the dense verses you picked through in high school English that left you scratching your head. 

“Set up the discharge chute!
Tilt back the mixing drum
s l o w l y 
pour me out
like elephant-grey pancake batter.”
(excerpt from the poem “Cement Speaks”)

This book is refreshingly original, elevating a theme that has been done countless times with a novel approach that is perfectly executed. I also appreciate that the illustrations often show women on the construction site, both as skilled workers and in supervisory roles, as well as racially diverse characters with a range of skin tones. Trust me, this is a construction book that both you and your child will want to read.