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Architecture
Cathedral: By the Author of The Way Things Work
A Caldecott Honor Book Readers worldwide recognize Caldecott Medal winner David Macaulay's imaginary Cathedral of Chutreaux. This critically acclaimed book has been translated into a dozen languages and remains a classic of children's literature and a touchstone for budding architects. Cathedral' s numerous awards include a Caldecott Honor and designation as a New York Times Best Illustrated Book of the Year for Macaulay's intricate pen-and-ink illustrations. Journey back to centuries long ago and visit the fictional people of twelfth-, thirteenth-, and fourteenth-century Europe whose dreams, like Cathedral, stand the test of time.
80 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1973
98 people are currently reading
2526 people want to read
About the author
David Macaulay
110 books396 followersDavid Macaulay, born in 1946, was eleven when his parents moved from England to Bloomfield, New Jersey. He found himself having to adjust from an idyllic English childhood to life in a fast paced American city. During this time he began to draw seriously, and after graduating from high school he enrolled in the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). After spending his fifth year at RISD in Rome on the European Honors Program, he received a bachelor’s degree in architecture and vowed never to practice. After working as an interior designer, a junior high school teacher, and a teacher at RISD, Macaulay began to experiment with creating books. He published his first book, Cathedral, in 1973. Following in this tradition, Macaulay created other books—including City, Castle, Pyramid, Mill, Underground, Unbuilding, and Mosque—that have provided the explanations of the how and the why in a way that is both accessible and entertaining. From the pyramids of Egypt to the skyscrapers of New York City, the human race’s great architectural and engineering accomplishments have been demystified through Macaulay's elaborate show-and-tells. Five of these titles have been made into popular PBS television programs.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 198 reviews
April 24, 2019
This book amazed me. I simply am blown away. The artwork is fantastic here. They are all black and white pencil drawings. David does amazing pictures of the Cathedral and all its parts and how it would be put together. It’s fascinating.
The book is long and its a story of putting together a cathedral from foundation to the spire. So, it’s not exciting storytelling, it’s interesting and amazing story telling. It is longish, about 20 minutes to read, so I would say this is for older children. I learned so much. I always wondered how those buildings were built and this book lays it out and it’s incredible. It is a special book. To me, making such great works with such simple tools always seemed like such a mystery. Seeing how they did it makes me in awe of them and I can see how they did it now and I’m more amazing by their will to build this.
This is a fictional building that took about 100 years to build, but it’s based off Notre Dame which took 200 years to build in reality.
The 8 year old likes fact books. This wasn’t so much a fact book, but she really got into this story and she was amazed by it. The 5 year old nephew was bored to tears. He wants to be a robot engineer, but he didn’t care for a building engineer at all. He kept complaining about how boring this was and he wanted to read something else. Eventually, we sent him to his room and his mom came and read him something else. So no stars from him. The niece thought this was a cool book and she gave this 5 stars. It does make you even more impressed how they were able to build this thing over many generations of people.
I start a project and I can’t wait to see the end result. These people started the project and they knew they would never see the end result. Amazing. They certainly left something for their families behind. They thought about the future, and it gave them a living wage for the present. Great story.
The book is long and its a story of putting together a cathedral from foundation to the spire. So, it’s not exciting storytelling, it’s interesting and amazing story telling. It is longish, about 20 minutes to read, so I would say this is for older children. I learned so much. I always wondered how those buildings were built and this book lays it out and it’s incredible. It is a special book. To me, making such great works with such simple tools always seemed like such a mystery. Seeing how they did it makes me in awe of them and I can see how they did it now and I’m more amazing by their will to build this.
This is a fictional building that took about 100 years to build, but it’s based off Notre Dame which took 200 years to build in reality.
The 8 year old likes fact books. This wasn’t so much a fact book, but she really got into this story and she was amazed by it. The 5 year old nephew was bored to tears. He wants to be a robot engineer, but he didn’t care for a building engineer at all. He kept complaining about how boring this was and he wanted to read something else. Eventually, we sent him to his room and his mom came and read him something else. So no stars from him. The niece thought this was a cool book and she gave this 5 stars. It does make you even more impressed how they were able to build this thing over many generations of people.
I start a project and I can’t wait to see the end result. These people started the project and they knew they would never see the end result. Amazing. They certainly left something for their families behind. They thought about the future, and it gave them a living wage for the present. Great story.
November 28, 2017
I would recommend this book to anyone who is reading or enjoyed "Pillars of the Earth". I say that because "Pillars of the Earth" is one of my wife's favorite books and she has read it several times. Although she usually doesn't care for 'my' books, she looked through this one.
Inside are plenty of drawings that show the building of a cathedral, from start to finish. Not only are the different parts of the cathedral shown but the different crafts are mentioned and illustrated that helped build it. It is easy for one to get an idea of just how they built such a monument without the use of power tools, let alone computers.
There is just enough written word to explain the basics so one can easily answer one's own questions. For instance, in this story the author mentions a master builder being replaced when he fell to his death. Yea, it was dangerous work.
This book has been around a while and if you are going to check out "Pillars" from the local library I would suggest you ask for this one too. You will get an idea of just what 'Builder Tom' had to work with.
Inside are plenty of drawings that show the building of a cathedral, from start to finish. Not only are the different parts of the cathedral shown but the different crafts are mentioned and illustrated that helped build it. It is easy for one to get an idea of just how they built such a monument without the use of power tools, let alone computers.
There is just enough written word to explain the basics so one can easily answer one's own questions. For instance, in this story the author mentions a master builder being replaced when he fell to his death. Yea, it was dangerous work.
This book has been around a while and if you are going to check out "Pillars" from the local library I would suggest you ask for this one too. You will get an idea of just what 'Builder Tom' had to work with.
March 9, 2019
“If you want to have some control over the world in which you live, you have to pay attention to it.” - David Macaulay
From early childhood, the talented author and illustrator, David Macaulay had a fascination about how machines worked and their construction. He was enamored with the engineering, mechanics and the wonders of architecture. He drew constantly and entered the Rhode School of Design at the age of 17. In 1969, he graduated with a degree in architecture. Now he is an award-winning author with 29 books to his name and won a MacArthur fellow award in 2006.
Our family has most of his books and my kids (now adults) were inspired, impressed and dazzled by his work. I personally love his two-dimensional, detailed pen and ink drawings and how marvelous his famed book (my favorite of all of his books)
“Cathedral” still is to me years later. If you have children or teenagers, make sure to introduce them early on to his body of work. As an adult reader, I learned so much from this incredible book that tells the story of a imaginary cathedral being built in France in a fictional medieval town called "Chutreaux." The book explains in very good fashion just how a cathedral is built from the ground up. And we learn more than just the basics, we learn why people built the cathedrals in the first place. It is a fascinating history and really wonderfully done. Five gothic stars. Highly recommend.
From early childhood, the talented author and illustrator, David Macaulay had a fascination about how machines worked and their construction. He was enamored with the engineering, mechanics and the wonders of architecture. He drew constantly and entered the Rhode School of Design at the age of 17. In 1969, he graduated with a degree in architecture. Now he is an award-winning author with 29 books to his name and won a MacArthur fellow award in 2006.
Our family has most of his books and my kids (now adults) were inspired, impressed and dazzled by his work. I personally love his two-dimensional, detailed pen and ink drawings and how marvelous his famed book (my favorite of all of his books)
“Cathedral” still is to me years later. If you have children or teenagers, make sure to introduce them early on to his body of work. As an adult reader, I learned so much from this incredible book that tells the story of a imaginary cathedral being built in France in a fictional medieval town called "Chutreaux." The book explains in very good fashion just how a cathedral is built from the ground up. And we learn more than just the basics, we learn why people built the cathedrals in the first place. It is a fascinating history and really wonderfully done. Five gothic stars. Highly recommend.
April 27, 2019
Cathedral was the first of David Macaulay’s very popular (and groundbreaking) “children’s” books, in which he produced large drawings accompanied by interesting text, together illustrating how various things have been put together by humans over the ages. In this book his topic is a medieval European cathedral. The book informs us about the engineering problems and solutions, the large number and different types of craftsman involved, and the decades-long effort required. (The Wiki article on Macaulay notes that it was awarded the 1975 Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis for children's non-fiction.)
This is a far better book on the topic than Ken Follett’s Pillars of the Earth, though of course the latter is intended as an interesting piece of fiction with some cathedral-building information thrown in as background. (I imagine that Macaulay’s was a source book that Follett very likely looked at.) Not only is Cathedral accessible to younger readers, it can be consumed in a matter of hours, and then referred back to again and again, instead of needing tiresome days to get through. It need hardly be said that it is a fine read for adults as well.
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Previous review: Probability, Confirmation, Simplicity
Next review: City
More recent review: Women & Power A Manifesto
Previous library review: Pablo Picasso A Retrospective
Next library review: Brunelleschi's Dome How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture
This is a far better book on the topic than Ken Follett’s Pillars of the Earth, though of course the latter is intended as an interesting piece of fiction with some cathedral-building information thrown in as background. (I imagine that Macaulay’s was a source book that Follett very likely looked at.) Not only is Cathedral accessible to younger readers, it can be consumed in a matter of hours, and then referred back to again and again, instead of needing tiresome days to get through. It need hardly be said that it is a fine read for adults as well.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Previous review: Probability, Confirmation, Simplicity
Next review: City
More recent review: Women & Power A Manifesto
Previous library review: Pablo Picasso A Retrospective
Next library review: Brunelleschi's Dome How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture
April 20, 2018
The glorious illustrations are what truly makes David Macauley's Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction visually stunning and an aesthetic treat; they are detailed, informative, and quite simply outstanding in every way. However, as much as I do appreciate (and even enjoy) the featured pictorial images, the author and illustrator's accompanying text is really much much too dense and occasionally even rather majorly tedious (especially for a book geared towards children), as whilst reading, I often feel my attention wandering (and my eyes skimming over entire parts). And considering that Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction in many ways strives to educate and enlighten, its teaching and learning potentials would also be much increased by the inclusion of a bibliography, as well as additional historical and cultural background information (the lack of which is the main reason, I am now considering Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction with only two stars instead of the three stars I had originally considered).
Now I do find it both amusing and interesting that the cathedral featured is obviously based on the famous cathedral at Chartres, France. And with that fact in mind, I personally would likely enjoy Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction rather more, if the narrative were based on the building of the actual Chartres Cathedral (for David Macauley's text truly reads like non fiction, but as historical fiction, it has the tendency to become somewhat majorly monotonous and dragging).
Now I do find it both amusing and interesting that the cathedral featured is obviously based on the famous cathedral at Chartres, France. And with that fact in mind, I personally would likely enjoy Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction rather more, if the narrative were based on the building of the actual Chartres Cathedral (for David Macauley's text truly reads like non fiction, but as historical fiction, it has the tendency to become somewhat majorly monotonous and dragging).
April 23, 2015
This is a new edition of how a cathedral of the Middle Ages was built. The author/illustrator has added color as well as new information to this beautiful new edition. Congratulations to David Macaulay on a job so well done!
May 27, 2023
15 March, 2010
Another impulse check-out. Those New shelves are located right by the desk, you understand. We flipped through it during reading time, not to read the text, but just to gawk at Macaulay's amazing pictures. I'll go back later and reread the text, too.
***
27 May 2023
It's such a delight to go back through again (and again) appreciating the clarity with which he explains the process. Your Rutherfurds and Follett s can tell fine stories, but the mechanics aren't so clear.
Still an amazing book.
Still a library copy
Another impulse check-out. Those New shelves are located right by the desk, you understand. We flipped through it during reading time, not to read the text, but just to gawk at Macaulay's amazing pictures. I'll go back later and reread the text, too.
***
27 May 2023
It's such a delight to go back through again (and again) appreciating the clarity with which he explains the process. Your Rutherfurds and Follett s can tell fine stories, but the mechanics aren't so clear.
Still an amazing book.
Still a library copy
April 20, 2019
We’ve owned this book for years. I originally purchased it for my son with an interest in architecture. Recently, as we starting a book purging process, (yes, a true torture), I decided to read through books we never read aloud. It just happened to be before the Notre Dame Cathedral fire. Tonight, everyone was exceptionally interested (especially my husband). Great timing for the books we read. It’s a God-given tender mercy. This is an excellent book and we learned so much.
August 14, 2021
"I don't like it - I LOVE IT!" 🤣
December 21, 2018
ich hab in dieses buch zuletzt vor etwa 34 jahren geschaut, als es irgendwo in meiner damaligen schule herumlag. danach dachte ich immer wieder daran, an die zeichnungen vor allem, aber erst vor wenigen tagen hatte ich die spontane idee, es mir gebraucht zu bestellen, und ich habe es nicht bereut.
auch als nachdrücklich nicht gläubiger mensch komme ich nicht umhin, die meisterwerke in der geschichte, die zur kontaktaufnahme mit dem geist geschaffen wurden, mit staunen zu bewundern. dazu ist auch zu ergänzen, dass all diese unglaublichen werke und anstrengungen immer menschliche großleistungen waren, und als solche kann ich sie völlig problemlos wertschätzen.
kirchen nun, oder auch kathedralen, sind solche unglaublichen leistungen, deren großartigkeit am besten wahrnehmbar wird, wenn man sie im kontext ihrer entstehungszeit sehen kann. heute sehen auch die größten kathedralen im schatten vier- bis achtmal höherer wolkenkratzer zwar immer noch schön, aber kaum noch derart überragend aus, wie das zu den zeiten ihrer entstehnung war.
dies ist eines der details, an die mich dieses buch mehr als 30 jahre lang immer wieder denken ließ: wenn so eine kathedrale nach oft 200jähriger bauzeit fertig ist und jedes bauwerk in der umgebung weit überragt, betritt man wohl wirklich einen raum der unfassbarkeit, wenn man hineingeht. ganze generationen an baumeistern, steinbrechern, bildhauern, schmieden, glasbläsern, zimmerleuten, usw. usf. bauten an diesen räumen, und nicht zuletzt war auch die musik lange zeit ein fest mit dem bau dieser räume verbundener bestandteil, weil ihr erklingen an die selben ideen gebunden war.
die illustrationen in diesem buch sind lebendig und anschaulich - mich haben einige der zeichnungen wie gesagt 34 jahre lang eindrucksvoll begleitet.
ich empfehle es daher jedem, der sich mit dem thema beschäftigen möchte... nicht nur kindern.
auch als nachdrücklich nicht gläubiger mensch komme ich nicht umhin, die meisterwerke in der geschichte, die zur kontaktaufnahme mit dem geist geschaffen wurden, mit staunen zu bewundern. dazu ist auch zu ergänzen, dass all diese unglaublichen werke und anstrengungen immer menschliche großleistungen waren, und als solche kann ich sie völlig problemlos wertschätzen.
kirchen nun, oder auch kathedralen, sind solche unglaublichen leistungen, deren großartigkeit am besten wahrnehmbar wird, wenn man sie im kontext ihrer entstehungszeit sehen kann. heute sehen auch die größten kathedralen im schatten vier- bis achtmal höherer wolkenkratzer zwar immer noch schön, aber kaum noch derart überragend aus, wie das zu den zeiten ihrer entstehnung war.
dies ist eines der details, an die mich dieses buch mehr als 30 jahre lang immer wieder denken ließ: wenn so eine kathedrale nach oft 200jähriger bauzeit fertig ist und jedes bauwerk in der umgebung weit überragt, betritt man wohl wirklich einen raum der unfassbarkeit, wenn man hineingeht. ganze generationen an baumeistern, steinbrechern, bildhauern, schmieden, glasbläsern, zimmerleuten, usw. usf. bauten an diesen räumen, und nicht zuletzt war auch die musik lange zeit ein fest mit dem bau dieser räume verbundener bestandteil, weil ihr erklingen an die selben ideen gebunden war.
die illustrationen in diesem buch sind lebendig und anschaulich - mich haben einige der zeichnungen wie gesagt 34 jahre lang eindrucksvoll begleitet.
ich empfehle es daher jedem, der sich mit dem thema beschäftigen möchte... nicht nur kindern.
January 7, 2021
A second Macaulay read to the children. Not quite so detailed a world as Mill, but still a wonderfully rendered exploration of one of humanity’s great building endeavors—the cathedral. A touching attention to the multi-generational community which commits to such projects, and a gracious acknowledgement of the transcendent love which might drive them to such dedication. Hard to believe, sometimes, that cathedrals are actually real. Wish I had read the pen-and-ink rather than the colorized version, can’t help but feeling something was lost.
June 26, 2013
Intricately illustrated with detailed pen and ink drawings that aptly tell the story. The text was informative, but not very engaging.
January 7, 2016
Excellent description of the different stages of cathedral building, beautifully illustrated for children.
January 27, 2022
I'm pretty sure that my mom read this to me when I was young, but I really enjoyed reading it now as an adult too.
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January 28, 2024Actually breathtaking, this book is amazing.
March 1, 2015
(Same review for Castle, Cathedral, and Pyramid, which I read all around the same time)
I greatly enjoyed Randall Munroe's What If. It reminded me in some ways of David Macaulay's books, which I read as a child. Inspired and nostalgic, I went out and acquired several of them, and decided to spell some of my "grown-up" reading with them:
- Castle is about a British castle in the 1200s-1300s
- Cathedral is about a French cathedral in the 1200s-1300s
- Pyramid is about an Egyptian pyramid in the 2400s BC
These are picture books that trace the construction of the title buildings from start to finish. They are technically fiction - the buildings and characters are made-up - but much of the books is comprised of architectural and historical details that are based on reality. The buildings in these books all take several decades to complete, and Macaulay beautifully captures the joy of building and engineering. There is a glossary at the end of each, a feature for which I am always grateful.
My favorites were the intermittent illustrations that illustrated the same view of the building at different intervals of time. Cathedral stands out here above the others; there are a few extra of these "t=1, t=2, ..." drawings. I also thought Cathedral featured the best illustrations overall, perhaps because of the larger number of intricacies and ornate decorations.
I greatly enjoyed Randall Munroe's What If. It reminded me in some ways of David Macaulay's books, which I read as a child. Inspired and nostalgic, I went out and acquired several of them, and decided to spell some of my "grown-up" reading with them:
- Castle is about a British castle in the 1200s-1300s
- Cathedral is about a French cathedral in the 1200s-1300s
- Pyramid is about an Egyptian pyramid in the 2400s BC
These are picture books that trace the construction of the title buildings from start to finish. They are technically fiction - the buildings and characters are made-up - but much of the books is comprised of architectural and historical details that are based on reality. The buildings in these books all take several decades to complete, and Macaulay beautifully captures the joy of building and engineering. There is a glossary at the end of each, a feature for which I am always grateful.
My favorites were the intermittent illustrations that illustrated the same view of the building at different intervals of time. Cathedral stands out here above the others; there are a few extra of these "t=1, t=2, ..." drawings. I also thought Cathedral featured the best illustrations overall, perhaps because of the larger number of intricacies and ornate decorations.
August 11, 2010
As an artist, a trained architect, and a lifelong lover of children's books, I fiercely love this little book of step-by-step ink drawings of a medieval Gothic cathedral being built. The level of knowledge and care that went into each picture is awe-inspiring, and yet instantly legible. It reminds me of a quote by Dizzy Gillespie,; "It's taken me my whole life to learn what not to play". There's an astonishing level of mastery here to be able to compress so much obviously painstakingly researched information into this slender, simple volume. The book is interesting on every single page, beautiful on every single page. It never talks down to you and never goes over your head, no matter what your age. The book is bigger than the sum of its parts, and it is a damned impressive sum of parts to begin with.
November 4, 2015
1974 Caldecott Honor: Favorite Illustration - I love the cross views throughout the book, starting with the foundations and then adding the walls, vaults, buttresses, etc.
This fictional tale of the building of a Gothic cathedral is pumped full of details on how people of the time accomplished these architectural wonders. While I don't usually enjoy this type of story, this particular book had so much information and detail that I was drawn in and fascinated! The beautiful cross-hatch and line-drawings illustrated in detail all the work that went into building such an amazing building over several decades.
Side note: I'd love to see something this in depth on the building of the LDS Salt Lake Temple.
This fictional tale of the building of a Gothic cathedral is pumped full of details on how people of the time accomplished these architectural wonders. While I don't usually enjoy this type of story, this particular book had so much information and detail that I was drawn in and fascinated! The beautiful cross-hatch and line-drawings illustrated in detail all the work that went into building such an amazing building over several decades.
Side note: I'd love to see something this in depth on the building of the LDS Salt Lake Temple.
February 6, 2015
What a beautifully illustrated book! At first, as I flipped through, I saw a lot of white space, but after reading, I realize this is a good book to talk about structure/layout of text with students. This book has 77 pages, but reads super fast. The intricate illustrations and the brief text are so helpful to comprehension because the details are so very technical and complex to a mind not suited to construction of this magnitude. Because the pacing is slowed down by short pieces of text on each page, it also really helps me experience the massive of amount of time, almost a century, it takes to build a cathedral.
December 13, 2024
Next month I am hosting an online book club for Notre Dame de Paris/The Hunchback of Notre Dame. In preparation for it, I read this book.
Amazing. My mind is blown at this great achievement wrought by men, powered by their muscles and skills alone. The lengths that had to be gone to in order to create this grand work of art, the time it took to create, the finished building—I am in awe.
Amazing. My mind is blown at this great achievement wrought by men, powered by their muscles and skills alone. The lengths that had to be gone to in order to create this grand work of art, the time it took to create, the finished building—I am in awe.
May 8, 2008
Really nice ink drawings. Interesting explanations. Used this in my Art History classes.
February 9, 2021
Not as good as the rating suggests, but it is still quite impressive. First off, it is the combination of illustrations and processive narrative of how to build the cathedral from scratch. I am quite interested in medieval studies, and cathedral and monasteries in literature always fascinated me. Every novel I read about them or around them or with them in the plot is a novel I loved, liked, or enjoyed. Obviously, every adult knows or assumes that the process of building a cathedral is laborious and time-consuming, especially when it was based heavily and exclusively on the manual labor.
These buildings are examples of tenacity and ingenuity of human spirit, and testament to our endurance and imagination.
Overall, this book, despite its initial target audience, provides a very detailed representation what it is to build a cathedral. When it comes to technical side, it is very gradual and progressive and covers the steps they way they were taken. There is no condescension, no talking down to tweens and children. The technical side is informative, interesting, and engrossing. What my agno-atheistic self did not like was a little too much of a deferential attitude to someone with the capital G as if the author knows for sure that he/she/it/they exist and shows too much affirmation. Of course, it was inevitable that such references will be made taking into an account the subject matter and time frame, but for a couple of pages it seemed to me that the book was published by some Christian publishing houses. This is how bad it became for me in the beginning. Then, I researched a little bit, and I saw that the author wrote some book in relevance to the construction of a mosque or a pyramid, and I thought maybe this idolatry is just of the way to convey the spirit of times, the zeitgeist of sorts.
These buildings are examples of tenacity and ingenuity of human spirit, and testament to our endurance and imagination.
Overall, this book, despite its initial target audience, provides a very detailed representation what it is to build a cathedral. When it comes to technical side, it is very gradual and progressive and covers the steps they way they were taken. There is no condescension, no talking down to tweens and children. The technical side is informative, interesting, and engrossing. What my agno-atheistic self did not like was a little too much of a deferential attitude to someone with the capital G as if the author knows for sure that he/she/it/they exist and shows too much affirmation. Of course, it was inevitable that such references will be made taking into an account the subject matter and time frame, but for a couple of pages it seemed to me that the book was published by some Christian publishing houses. This is how bad it became for me in the beginning. Then, I researched a little bit, and I saw that the author wrote some book in relevance to the construction of a mosque or a pyramid, and I thought maybe this idolatry is just of the way to convey the spirit of times, the zeitgeist of sorts.
September 4, 2022
Imagine what readers, teachers, librarians, and publishers thought when this, a children's picture book about the building of a fictional medieval French cathedral illustrated in black and white pen-and-ink, was released in 1973. The text is accompanied by large-scale drawings of stunning birds-eye views interspersed with instructional sketches of life on the ground. It must have blown everyone's minds. It was named a Caldecott Honor book.
(these samples don't do it justice - you must see it in its original large format.)
Despite loving David Macaulay's PBS programs Cathedral and Castle since childhood, I had never read this book until now. The programs followed me through my education from elementary school to community college and I later bought them on DVD so I could continue watching them at home and share them with my children. His drawing style influenced my own, which I believe later influenced my daughter's. I had the opportunity to meet Macaulay after a lecture at Utah State University in October, 2014 and he was as smart, kind, and creative as I always thought he was. He not only signed our copy of Cathedral, but he also left an original drawing on the title page. I'll treasure it forever.
(these samples don't do it justice - you must see it in its original large format.)
Despite loving David Macaulay's PBS programs Cathedral and Castle since childhood, I had never read this book until now. The programs followed me through my education from elementary school to community college and I later bought them on DVD so I could continue watching them at home and share them with my children. His drawing style influenced my own, which I believe later influenced my daughter's. I had the opportunity to meet Macaulay after a lecture at Utah State University in October, 2014 and he was as smart, kind, and creative as I always thought he was. He not only signed our copy of Cathedral, but he also left an original drawing on the title page. I'll treasure it forever.
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May 19, 2023delightful
October 5, 2017
Another interesting look at the process of constructing a historical building. Cathedral is basically the same in style and format as Castle. I think for me to connect with either of these books more I’d need more characters and less technical description. My husband also pointed out that it would have added a lot if the images of stained glass were in color.
June 22, 2013
1974 Caldecott Honor
The illustrations are nice to look at, but the text is very trying if not interested.....
The illustrations are nice to look at, but the text is very trying if not interested.....
September 9, 2017
There were a few theological misstatements on page 1. After that, the book was a pure delight.
April 12, 2020
This is a Caldecott Honor Book and deserves all the accolades it has earned. Through words and pictures, the reader is told the complex story of how a Gothic cathedral was conceived, created and used in the Middle Ages. The example used is fictitious but relies on the author's extensive knowledge of Gothic cathedrals. One of the most amazing things I learned from this book was the fact that these churches often took one or two hundred years to complete.
The story takes place in Chutreaux, France, in the 1200s. There are no plagues, people have jobs and money and they want to thank God with a church. They have some of the remains of St. Germain, who was a knight in the First Crusade. For those not aware, a church/cathedral is named after a saint and they retain some fragment of that saint's body, perhaps in the sacristy or some other holy place.
Through tight text and awesome drawings, youngsters and adults can learn about the construction of a cathedral. In this telling, it takes 86 years to complete the church; in time for the grandchildren of the original workers to enjoy the beauty of the completed church. There is also a glossary on the last page to help with architectural terms. Beautiful.
The story takes place in Chutreaux, France, in the 1200s. There are no plagues, people have jobs and money and they want to thank God with a church. They have some of the remains of St. Germain, who was a knight in the First Crusade. For those not aware, a church/cathedral is named after a saint and they retain some fragment of that saint's body, perhaps in the sacristy or some other holy place.
Through tight text and awesome drawings, youngsters and adults can learn about the construction of a cathedral. In this telling, it takes 86 years to complete the church; in time for the grandchildren of the original workers to enjoy the beauty of the completed church. There is also a glossary on the last page to help with architectural terms. Beautiful.
April 30, 2024
I quoted this classic children’s book in a serious academic school paper today. I was trying to explain my theory on how the Danish Nave church became the English Cathedral, and that architecture in the medieval period was just as much a part of cultural and ethnic identity as anything else.
My copy of this growing up was black and white and very quickly became one of my favorite coloring books. The copy I read today was beautifully illustrated in full color. I will want to purchase my own copy!
Catch me submitting pages of this to the NSP property committee as we look forward to the possibility of our own building.
My copy of this growing up was black and white and very quickly became one of my favorite coloring books. The copy I read today was beautifully illustrated in full color. I will want to purchase my own copy!
Catch me submitting pages of this to the NSP property committee as we look forward to the possibility of our own building.
February 18, 2022
I see the value in this book, but boy was I bored. It was so technical and detailed. You really have to be into architecture to follow this one.
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