Frank Lloyd Wright for Kids.

Frank Lloyd Wright for Kids. Kathleen Thorne Thompson. Chicago: Chicago Review Press (800-888-4741), 1994. Illus., 138 pp., paperback, $14.95.

Books reviewed in these columns are usually very recent publications, but occasionally the reviewer happens across an overlooked book that merits a review for multiple reasons. With a major PBS series on architectural visionary Frank Lloyd Wright due to be televised in November, this inviting and interesting hook definitely merits a late look. Both a biography and an activity hook, the reader friendly large type fonts, inviting paragraph format with illuminated first letters for each chapter and balance of archival photos of buildings and people counterpointed with lively line drawings in Wright's favorite off-red color make for a delightful resource and read. Directed at ages eight and up, half of the book follows Wright's early developmental years, proceeding through brief photo/text sections on Taliesen East and West into descriptions that humanize several of his most noted accomplishments: Fallingwater, Robie House, Hollyhock House, and his Oak Park home/studio. This is followed by twenty-one very diverse architecture-oriented activities that would be adaptable for mid-elementary through middle school children.