Books with author Jeannie Baker

Two diverse countries and cultures are linked with warmth and charm in this two-in-one picture book. This innovative picture book comprises two stories designed to be read simultaneously - one from the left, the other from the right. Page by page, we experience the lives of two little boys - one from an urban family in Sydney, Australia, the other from Morocco. From busy motorways to desert landscapes, these worlds couldn't be further apart. Yet with the journey of a homemade Moroccan carpet into the Australian boy's home, we can see how these separate lives become intertwined. At the book's conclusion, the family in Sydney can be seen enjoying their new purchase together while the Moroccan family are surfing the internet. A powerful book, "Mirror" illustrates how our lives reflect each other and that we are all, even in some small way, connected. It features innovative dual-book format, effectively communicating the way people's experiences and values are shared, despite geographical and cultural differences. The essential story is conveyed wordlessly, while the short introduction and author's note appear in both English and Arabic. There is a keystone in the vital bridge across the East-West gap.

An English émigré who became America's first professional architect, Benjamin Henry Latrobe put his stamp on the built landscape of the new republic. Latrobe contributed to such iconic structures as the south wing of the US Capitol building, the White House, and the Navy Yard. He created some of the early republic's greatest neoclassical interiors, including the Statuary Hall and the Senate, House, and Supreme Court Chambers.As a young man, Latrobe was apprenticed to both a leading architect and civil engineer in London, studied the European continent's architectural and engineering monuments, worked on canals, and designed private houses. After the death of his first wife, he was bankrupt and emigrated to the United States in 1796 to restart his career. For the new nation with grand political expectations, he intended buildings and engineering projects to match those aspirations. Like his patron Thomas Jefferson, Latrobe saw his neoclassical designs as a way to convey American democracy. He envisioned his engineering projects, such as the canals and municipal water systems for Philadelphia and New Orleans, as a way to unite the nation and improve public health.Jean Baker conveys the personality of this charming, driven, and often frustrated genius and the era in which he lived. Latrobe tried to establish architecture as a profession with high standards, established fees, and recognized procedures, though he was unable to collect fees and earn the living his work was worth. Like many of his peers, he speculated and found himself in bankruptcy several times.Building America masterfully narrates the life and legacy of a key figure in creating an American aesthetic in the new United States.

A how-to guide to making your own collages, brimful of fascinating hints and tips from a master of the genre.Over the course of a 40-year career, Jeannie Baker has perfected the art of collage in the creation of picture-book classics such as Where the Forest Meets the Sea and Window, a Boston Globe-Horn Honour Book. Her stunning pieces, devised by assembling all sorts of different textures, are known all around the globe. Whether it's dried flowers or tiny shells, spaghetti or postage stamps, she uses the world around her to make work that is astonishingly beautiful and deeply creative. And she focuses on a range of important issues including the environment, land degradation, family, society and sustainability. In Playing with Collage, she shares her secrets at last - and encourages her readers to get creative. Within each of this book's four main sections, Jeannie presents an abstract collage of her own and offers suggestions and starting points for beginners. There are no right or wrong answers in this treasure of a book, it's all about trusting your instincts ... and playing!

An innovative, two-in-one picture book follows a parallel day in the life of two families: one in a Western city and one in a North African village.Somewhere in Sydney, Australia, a boy and his family wake up, eat breakfast, and head out for a busy day of shopping. Meanwhile, in a small village in Morocco, a boy and his family go through their own morning routines and set out to a bustling market. In this ingenious, wordless picture book, readers are invited to compare, page by page, the activities and surroundings of children in two different cultures. Their lives may at first seem quite unalike, but a closer look reveals that there are many things, some unexpected, that connect them as well. Designed to be read side by side — one from the left and the other from the right —these intriguing stories are told entirely through richly detailed collage illustrations.

A big book version of this wordless, visually compelling look at our changing environment, featured on a government reading list for schools. A mother and baby look through a window at a view of wilderness and sky as far as the eye can see. With each page, the boy grows and the scene changes. At first, in a clear patch of forest, a single house appears. A few years pass and there is a village in the distance. By the time the boy is twenty, the village has developed into a city. The young man gets married, has a child of his own and moves to the country, where father and child look through the window of their new home at the undeveloped wilderness outside. Illustrated with elaborate and gorgeous collage constructions, Window is a wordless picture book that speaks volumes.