Fun with Books: Buildings in Disguise by Joan Arbogast

One of my favorite things about writing books for kids, parents, and teachers is meeting fabulously talented authors…who happen to be great people, too. I am blessed to call Joan Marie Arbogast my friend. She’s encouraged and inspired me, as a Catholic mom and as a writer.
I am so excited to share her book, Buildings in Disguise, with you today!
Buildings in Disguise was published in 2004 by Boyds Mills Press. It is a wonderfully photographed book about mimetic architecture – so called because the buildings mimic animals, food, and other things. It’s a really great inspiration-sparker!
We are just beginning a study of mimetic {or novelty} architecture as I write this, so I’m sharing some of the ideas I have for my kids to work through as we read and enjoy Joan’s book. I’ll give my kids this Kid’s Choice Board {download your own} so they can each choose the activities they will do to show what they’ve learned during this fun summer study.

Using the choice board, the kids will choose a minimum of one activity from each row.

• The top row consists of art projects.
• The middle row contains printable activities.
• The bottom row is made up of research and writing tasks.

The choice board gives the kids a way to exercise their own preferences, but still work on a variety of project types. We’ll {hopefully} culminate our exploration with a trip to a real example of this type of architecture. {I’ve always wanted an excuse to visit the Longaberger Basket!}