The Wonderful Towers of Watts

by Patricia Zelver, Frane Lessac (Illustrator)

Overview

The incredible artwork of an Italian immigrant who followed his dream of monumental proportions in the impoverished Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles is revealed in this fascinating and engaging true story. A Reading Rainbow selection!

Simon (Sam) Rodia had no formal engineering or architectural training.  Yet, over the course of three decades, he constructed an artistic masterpiece in his own backyard – the Watts Towers. Using all kinds of things other people had thrown away, such as broken bottles and tiles, pieces of mirror and glass, seashells, and bits of pottery, he adorned the collection of 17 interconnected sculptural towers. His imaginative salvaging and perseverance can be seen today, as people from all over the world still come to marvel at Sam’s dream.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781590782552
Publisher:	Astra Publishing House
Publication date:	09/01/2005
Series:	Reading Rainbow Books
Edition description:	Reissue
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.56(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.12(d)
Lexile:	AD650L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Patricia Zelver has written several books for children, including The Wedding of Don Octavio. Her stories have been selected eight times for Prize Stories: The O'. Henry Awards and have appeared in many anthologies. She and her husband live in Montana.

Frané Lessac has illustrated and written many books. Her own My Little Island was a Reading Rainbow Features Selection. Her paintings have been exhibited in galleries throughout the world. She lives in Fermantle, Australia, with her husband, their two children, a cat, and some fish.

Editorial Reviews

"Will intrigue readers, and the artwork has a charm all its own." —Booklist

"The fascination of collecting and creating, of turning garbage into something splendid, shines through the book. . . . As well as being a story of individual human achievement, this could serve as an inspiration for some classroom art projects." —The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"The book can stand on its own, but could also spark an interesting discussion on art and its role in our society." —School Library Journal

From the Publisher

This true story describes an Italian immigrant who spent 30 years building mosaic-covered spires in the Watts section of Los Angeles; Lessac's art "captures the gaudy beauty of his achievement," said PW, although its fanciful interpretation "carries the book . . . away from history." Ages 5-up. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

PreS-Gr 3-This simply narrated picture book tells of Italian immigrant Simon Rodia, a self-styled artist who created unique constructions in inner-city Los Angeles. In addition to carting home broken tiles from the factory where he worked, Simon (known in the neighborhood as Old Sam) made a habit of collecting discarded objects that he came across in his travels. His amazing, lacy, intricate towers made from concrete and steel and decorated with bits of tile, glass, mirror, pottery, and seashells were his life's work, taking 33 years to build, and became objects of conversation, speculation, wonder, and delight within the Watts community. After city engineers declared them structurally sound, they became a permananent landmark, to be seen and admired by people from all over the world. Lessac's familiar gouache paintings fill the pages with soft rich colors. The cheerful double-page spreads provide an element of whimsy appropriate to the narrative and the towers themselves. The book can stand on its own, but could also spark an interesting discussion on art and its role in our society.-Corinne Camarata, Port Washington Public Library, NY

School Library Journal