Stories for Children Magazine 4 Star Review

books:


	• Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction (Sandpiper) David Macaulay Houghton Mifflin/Walter Lorraine Books, 1981 - 80 pages average customer review:based on 17 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

An excellent masterpiece!

Words are useless to describe this masterpiece created by David Macaulay.

I have visited France (more specifically Paris, Rheims, Chartres, Chambord, Versailles, Chenonceau) and went on a "cathedral pilgrimage" to see all the greatest French gothic cathedrals.

After picking up this book in my local library, I was spellbound by the beauty of Macaulay's drawings. Macaulay is able to recreate the majesticness and grandeur of the cathedrals and draws you into the cathedral. You can almost hear the cathedral choir singing in the backround and the quite chanting of the people.

Macaulay's drawings are first rate (no wonder this masterpiece won the Caldacot Medal!)

This book should be read by everyone to show what people can achieve through determination and having a united goal.

This just occurred to me.... why do man's most significant and most beautiful works of art and architecture result from their religion?

David Macaulay's book is pure gold! BUY THIS BOOK, YOU WON'T REGRET IT!!!

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Stories for Children Magazine 4 Star Review

This first book in David Macaulay's series of well illustrated descriptions of how things in history were built explains the construction of a thirteenth-century Gothic cathedral. In 1252, the people of Chutreaux, France, wished to erect a new cathedral to express thanks for peace, the end of the plague, good weather, plenty of food to eat, and successful business for the city's merchants, after the old one was struck by lightning and damaged. Both the cathedral and people of Chutreaux are imaginary, but the methods of the cathedral's construction correspond closely to the actual building of a medieval cathedral, and the single-minded spirit of the city's populace is typical of people from the twelfth through fourteenth century in Europe.

The book makes a very good resource to accompany a study of the Middle Ages. The Church was extremely important to life in medieval Europe. Since the work on the cathedral covered 86 years, it took three architects--William of Planz, Robert of Cormont, and Etienne of Gaston--to guide the choosing of timbers and stone, laying the foundation, building the walls, installing the glass, and all the other activities needed for the completion of the cathedral in 1338, said to be the longest, widest, highest, and most beautiful cathedral in all of France. The wonderful drawings are quite helpful in being able to see what was happening and to understand the terms that are used. Cathedral was a 1973 Caldecott Honor book.

REVIEWED BY: Wayne S. Walker

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Gothic Cathedral

Excellent book with fascinating illustration. Good for children and at the same time for universitary pupils!

Another Macaulay Masterpiece

Second only to his magnum opus, Castle, this 1981 book continues David Macaulay's tradition of creating intricate (but welcoming and friendly) illustrations as an accompaniment to the telling of his informative tales. Taking its place in a grand series that has included Pyramid, Mill, Castle, Unbuilding, and others, Cathedral details the design and creation of one of the great Gothic churches that came to exist across western Europe during the Age of Faith. The setting here is France during the intellectually-towering High Middle Ages, and in careful steps we come to understand firstly what motivated people to undertake a construction project on such a scale, secondly how the construction was carried out, and finally how a Gothic cathedral, truly a structure that seems to soar untethered to earth, is able to stand so proudly close to a millennium after its dedication. Most marvelously of all, unlike virtually every other Medieval building, the great worship places are still largely in use today, fulfilling their original purposes and continuing on as a tribute to and testimony of the genius of those who erected them. David Macaulay is a master and a treasure, and a book like his teaches without effort. Like all great things, his books are joys to re-visit over the course of a lifetime.

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Macaulay's books

This book lives up to my expectations of David Macaulay's books in that it's very well drawn, has an abundant amount of useful information and is presented in a clear, exciting manner!

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

Text and detailed drawings follow the planning and construction of a magnificent Gothic cathedral in the imaginary French town of Chutreaux during the thirteenth century.

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