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

Winter offers a playful glimpse into Zaha’s world, inviting the young readers to approach things with Zaha’s perspective, who was able to see beyond everyday objects. In an excerpt from her book, Winter depicts the young Zaha standing on a carpet. “[She] looks long and hard at patterns in her Persian carpet and sees how the shapes and colors flow into each other, like the dunes and rivers and marshes,” writes Winter. Hadid’s first built project, the Vitra Fire Station in Weil am Rhein, Germany, exemplifies how she used unconventional forms in her work. Constructed in the early 1990s, the small, two-story structure stretches tightly and narrowly across the land it occupies. Sharp, angular forms jut out into space. It feels like a moment of action frozen in time. I absolutely adore the Little People, Big Dreams series, this particular one by Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara and illustrated by Asun Amar, for children so much. They are brilliant educational and motivational tools that can be used to introduce young readers to some of the most international and impressive people. Even I have learned a great deal from reading some of these exceptional novels about these extraordinary people. And one of those people I recently learned about was young Zaha Hadid, a woman from Iraq who grew into a world-famous architect. Leaving her home in Baghdad, she studied architecture in London and made quite a splash with her unconventional building designs. She entered contests and her designs won. As she became more famous, she received phone calls from other countries to design buildings that imitated flight or moving water. Soon, Zaha designed an art gallery in the United States, and from there, she was jet-setting around the world designing projects for housing and public use. She won the Pritzker Prize, the most prestigious award for architecture, and she was the youngest person ever to win.Another difference I see is that I mostly read about authors in this series before, but now, as this one is about an architect, you see her work, the buildings she created, instead of having just one symbol for her achievements like Frankenstein's monster was for Mary Shelley. Also, Zaha Hadid won numerous awards which are mentioned and would make a neat entryway for more research on famous architects and their work in one would be so inclined. Highly, highly recommended grade 3 and up. Younger kids will enjoy hearing the story. With author's note, timeline and bibliography. By her untimely death in 2016, Hadid was firmly established among architecture’s finest elite, working on projects in Europe, China, the Middle East, and the United States. She was the f irst female architect to win both the Pritzker Prize for architecture and the prestigious RIBA Royal Gold Medal, with her long-time Partner Patrik Schumacher now the leader of Zaha Hadid Architects and in charge of many new projects.

This book is gorgeously illustrated, following a very similar style to all of the other books I've read that are a part of this series. It's simple, colorful, to the point, and excellent for the typical audience. As usual, I am a huge fan. Even better, the book also features extended information about Zaha Hadid at the end. Part of the critically acclaimed Little People, BIG DREAMS series, Zaha Hadid tells the inspiring true story of the visionary Iraqi-British architect. In her latest children’s book, “The World Is Not a Rectangle,” author and illustrator Jeanette Winter portrays the life of the late architect Zaha Hadid, a selection of her works, and her inspirations.Hadid studied architecture at the Architectural Association (AA) in London from 1972 and was awarded the AA Diploma Prize in 1977. Zaha became a partner of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA).

Based on the massive TASCHEN monograph, this book is now available in an accessible edition covering Hadid’s complete works, including ongoing projects. With abundant photographs, in-depth sketches, and Hadid’s own drawings, the volume traces the evolution of her career, spanning not only her most pioneering buildings but also the furniture and interior designs that were integrated into her unique, and distinctly 21st-century, universe. Zaha Hadid Architect Book, UK, Children’s Publication, The World Is Not a Rectangle, Volume Zaha Hadid Book : Architecture Publication overview of Zaha’s childhood and education, paying particular attention to the ruins, deserts, and marshes Recommend for an INTERACTIVE READ ALOUD in the intermediate grades. Go slow. Reading aloud the text and pausing to let students look, notice, enjoy the bright illustrations. Leave in the classroom library (as part of a text set on female architects/designers?) to be read or perused again. stated “is not a rectangle.” As a result, her buildings swoop, curve, twist, and flow. Winter opens with anquotes from Zaha, and a short bio. A fantastically crafted picture-book biography on a woman deserving of