As a child in Spain in the mid-nineteenth century, Antoni Gaudí noticed the world—the jagged peaks of the mountains against the sky, the blue of the sea. “All around him is light, form, and the Great Book of Nature. He will read from it all his life.” Rachel Rodríguez looks at the career of this unusual architect whose “daring creations” inspired everything from confusion to anger to astonished wonder in those who saw them. Rodríguez engagingly describes Gaudí’s work and the responses to it in a picture book narrative set against Julie Paschkis’s fanciful, appealing illustrations. Paschkis’s style conveys a sense of Gaudí’s imaginative approach and unusual structures. An author’s note provides a more comprehensive overview of Gaudí’s life and directs readers to numerous websites where photos of his work can be seen. (Ages 6–9)

Founded in 1985, the CILJ took an innovative approach toward libraries for children’s books, analytical tools for literature and illustration, and proj ects for engaging families and children with literacy. It has become a model especially for the Spanish-speaking countries.

In a small village in Spain

lives a boy named Antoni Gaudí.



His home is in Catalonia, a place of jagged mountain peaks and silvery olive trees, splashed by the sparkling sea. The wild beauty of this landscape makes a deep impression. He thinks of it as the Great Book of Nature, and he will read from it all of his life.

Gaudí becomes an architect, learning the rules of form and structure that buildings are supposed to follow. But the shapes and colors of the natural world still inspire him, and he works them into his buildings. Leaves climb up walls. Pillars are giant animal feet. A long bench snakes around a playground.

Antoni Gaudí turned nature into art, and in the process he revolutionized the world of architecture.