Jeanette Winter is a celebrated picture book creator whose acclaimed works include Diego; Oil; and The Secret Project, all written by Jonah Winter, and her own Sisters: Venus & Serena Williams; The World Is Not a Rectangle: A Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadid; Nanuk the Ice Bear; Malala, a Brave Girl from Pakistan/Iqbal, a Brave Boy from Pakistan: Two Stories of Bravery; Henri's Scissors; Biblioburro: A True Story from Colombia; Nasreen's Secret School: A True Story from Afghanistan; and The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq.
A visionary architect from Iraq gets well-deserved attention in
Winter's new picture-book biography about a woman of courage whose
ideas and persistence influenced the world. Zaha Hadid, a native of
Baghdad, grows up admiring nature and patterns. She designs her own
clothes, wonders at the ruins in her homeland, and dreams of
designing cities. "Zaha has ideas." Zaha studies math, then leaves
home to study architecture in London. She then sets to work
planning and designing what the world has never seen: buildings
conceived after the shapes and patterns of nature. Working past the
initial rejection and discrimination she faces, Zaha grows her firm
from one room to an entire building. Eventually, her designs are
built all over the world. Her architects continued "making models
of her visions" even after her death, which is gently portrayed in
this book for young readers. The illustrations in this portrait are
fresh and spare, highlighting the concepts behind Zaha's designs.
As in Winter's other picture books, the use of color, shape, and
pattern in the artwork pairs beautifully with the straightforward
text to tell this intriguing story. The text makes a delightful
read-aloud, and it's engaging enough to grab the attention of
independent readers as well. This powerful biography is a boon for
all children and is particularly valuable for children outside of
the mainstream who have large visions and dreams of their own.
(author's note, sources.) (Picture book/biography. 5-10 -- Kirkus,
STARRED REVIEW * 6/15/17 *
Even as a child, Zaha Hadid was fascinated by the landscapes and
ruins of her native Iraq, seeing patterns in them she later
repeated in her urban designs. Her unusual ideas prompted her to
study architecture in London and eventually open Studio 9, an
office in which she and her colleagues designed unconventional
buildings that epitomized her mantra, "The world is not a
rectangle." Despite criticism and setbacks, Hadid's belief in the
impossible led to commissions to design a museum, an opera house, a
stadium, and even a ski jump, which incorporated their surrounding
landscapes into the core of their structures. When she died in
2016, Hadid had the distinction of being the only woman to receive
both the Pritzker Prize and the Royal Gold Medal for her inventive
sense of design. From its catchy title to the clear depiction of
its extraordinary subject, this book will appeal to elementary
students, particularly those craving daring role models. The simple
text flows as easily as Hadid's ideas, and Winter's painterly
acrylic illustrations are its perfect complement, bringing to life
a rather stern artist intent on realizing her artistic visions
against all odds. Art teachers can use the endpapers' portrayals of
Hadid's unusual structures to help students create their own
landscape-inspired designs, and mention of her Iraqi heritage could
prompt discussions on global artists. VERDICT Ripe with ties to
curricula, this is a great choice for art and biography
collections. -- School Library Journal * July 2017 *
Direct quotations from Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid pepper
this spare but engrossing biography from Winter (Nanuk the Ice
Bear). After moving quickly through Hadid's childhood,
highlighting her fascination with local "rivers and marshes and
dunes and ruins," Winter devotes several pages to her remarkable
designs: "tall buildings dancing like grass" (the Signature Towers
of Dubai), "an opera house like the pebbles in the water" (China's
Guangzhou Opera House), and others. The undulating shapes and milky
colors of Winter's images emphasize the connections between the
structures and their natural inspirations, and Hadid's commitment
to her designs features prominently: "Hadid means
iron in Arabic, and Zaha is strong as iron," writes Winter
as Hadid fixes readers with a steely gaze. It's a stirring reminder
of how far nontraditional thinking and dedication to one's ideals
can take a person. -- Publishers Weekly *STARRED REVIEW * July 3,
2017 *
Iranian architect Zaha Hadid drew inspiration for her designs from
the natural world, which she famously
stated "is not a rectangle." As a result, her buildings swoop,
curve, twist, and flow. Winter opens with an
overview of Zaha's childhood and education, paying particular
attention to the ruins, deserts, and marshes
she visited with her father during her youth, because these are the
sites that sparked her passion for design
and her unique style. Winter does an excellent job of utilizing
double-page spreads to link several of
Zaha's famous buildings with the object or vista upon which they
were modeled. A simple seashell
transforms into a sports stadium; marsh grasses inspire a cluster
of kinked apartment towers; the galaxy's
whirling stars are reflected in a building's curves and swirls.
Winter's illustrations utilize cool pastel tones
and seamlessly integrate Zaha's buildings-and later her fashion and
furniture designs-with nature,
perfectly reflecting the architect's organic design philosophy.
Readers will also come away with a firm
sense of Zaha's tenacity and determination as she refuses to be
held back by her ethnicity, gender, or
unconventional ideas. The book closes with a guide to the buildings
featured in the story, noteworthy
quotes from Zaha, and a short bio. A fantastically crafted
picture-book biography on a woman deserving of
recognition.
- Julia Smith -- Booklist *STARRED REVIEW * July 2017 *
As a child growing up in Baghdad in the 1950s and 1960s, Zaha
Hadid's love for math allowed her to see the world through a unique
lens; she observed carpet patterns (seeing how the "shapes and
colors flow into each other"), dreamed of ancient ruins, and
observed nature. Her creative thoughts inspired her to become an
architect, and she went on to design extraordinary and unusual
structures: "Zaha's designs don't look like other designs. Her
buildings swoosh and zoom and flow and fly." Winter quotes Hadid as
saying, "The beauty of the landscape- where sand, water, reeds,
birds, buildings, and people all somehow flow together-has never
left me," and Winter's rich-hued, multilayered illustrations
visually unite readers with the spirit of Hadid's architectural
creations. A series of spreads shows the artist at work while
holding or viewing natural-world or cultural objects, juxtaposed
with images of the structures she created that were
inspired by those objects, whether suggesting shape, form, or color
("Zaha looks at stones in a stream and builds an opera house like
the pebbles in the water"). Once again, Winter (The Librarian of
Basra, rev. 1/05; Nasreen's Secret School, rev. 11/09) opens the
door for younger children to read about an innovative and strong
woman who inspired others in her field and worked tirelessly to
make her vision become a reality. Back matter includes a pictorial
list of Hadid's structures, sources, and a brief author's note. --
The Horn Book Magazine * September/October *
Winter introduces Iraqi- born, British-educated Zaha Hadid-the
first woman to be awarded architecture's prestigious Pritzker
Prize-who a century later would bring elements from nature (reed
bundles, half-opened shells, waves, spiral galaxies) and drop their
outsized iterations into sites throughout Asia and Europe. [The]
illustrations reflect the designs of their [subject]... [and
incorporate] the architect's imagination at play alongside actual
buildings come to life....also supplies a list of resources and
closing author notes. -- BCCB * September 2017 *
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