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Library | Call Number | Status |
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Searching... Monmouth Public Library | J 720.92 MORGAN | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
From the time she was little, Julia Morgan wanted to know how everything fit together. Her family often visited San Francisco, where she could puzzle over the many new buildings under construction there. Julia desperately wanted to be an architect--but in the late nineteenth century that was rare for a woman.
Julia was not deterred. After several rejections, she finally made it into the prestigious all-male École des Beaux Arts, in Paris. She also became California's first licensed female architect and designed over 800 buildings, including newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst's magnificent San Simeon. With exquisite illustrations, this is the story of a spirited pioneer.
Reviews (3)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 1-5-This picture book is a wonderful way to introduce young readers to a groundbreaking female architect. Luminescent illustrations, created using soft pastels and pencils in a golden-peach palette, appear to glow with the light of California and France, both seminal locations in Morgan's life. Informed by architecture, the paintings evoke C?zanne's attention to form: the folds of dresses, the curve of a mountain, a shadow over a hat. The opening spread shows a youngster constructing a geometric sandcastle while the text quietly states: "Julia Morgan loved to build." The book highlights other significant moments: young Julia visiting construction sites with her engineer father; being the only woman in her engineering class at UC Berkeley in the 1890s; her pride at receiving a certificate in architecture from Paris's ?cole des Beaux-Arts; her return to San Francisco and early career. The last half of the book is devoted to the construction of William Randolph Hearst's San Simeon. Mannis points out that Morgan's creations are solidly built and noted for their enduring beauty. Filled with rich vocabulary, the narrative employs scrumptious architectural terms such as "Baroque," "flying buttresses," and "teakwood cornice." An inspiring tale and encouragement for someday builders.-Teresa Pfeifer, Alfred Zanetti Montessori Magnet School, Springfield, MA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
The daughter of an engineer and the cousin of architect Pierre LeBrun, Julia Morgan was fascinated with how buildings worked from an early age. She graduated with an engineering degree from Berkeley in 1895, the only woman in her class, then went to France where she sketched and studied and worked at gaining admission to the École des Beaux-Arts (which made her take the entrance exam three times). She came back to California and had a successful career, most famously spending more than 20 years designing and building Hearst Castle (San Simeon). She did battle with tycoon William Randolph Hearst as he changed his mind and his priorities. The text is straightforward and a little dry, betraying little of the will it must have taken for Morgan to forge the career she wanted. Hyman's soft but brilliant colors capture light, space and structure wonderfully but are less successful with figures and faces. Still, an interesting subject for a young biography, one who is not represented anywhere else for this age reader. (author's note, San Simeon facts, bibliography) (Picture book/biography. 8-11) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
The fruits of architects' labors--from pyramids to skyscrapers--have been celebrated more frequently in picture books than architects themselves. Mannis' choice of subject, the first female graduate of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, fills this void nicely, as the little something Morgan built for William Randolph Hearst on a California hilltop anchors the life story in a lavish project that will snare children's imaginations. The lively narrative crystallizes the struggles against the gender bias Morgan encountered and brings the details of a large-scale building site to a child's level, such as the movie screenings that entertained the castle's live-in construction crew. The book's large format and Hyman's full-bleed paintings capture the grandeur of both Morgan's aspirations and the dramatic landscapes in which she worked. A concluding photo of the finished structure would have been nice, as would notes about the provenance of material in quotations, but the unsung heroine and the handsome, engaging presentation counterbalance these missteps. --Jennifer Mattson Copyright 2006 Booklist