nerd teacher [books] reviewed Iggy Peck, Architect by Andrea Beaty (Questioneers Picture Books, #1)
Cute Despite Being Frustrating
2 stars
This book has a frustrating story structure. It's cute in showing the ways in which the titular character Iggy has an interest in architecture and building initially, but the overarching lesson is a bit wonky? Especially when combined with the other books in the series, which can create a really off-putting shift in tone.
The first thing that I noticed is that Iggy, unlike the girls in later installments of the series, gets to be a bit rambunctious. He gets to be a little naughty up to a point (such as how his mom thinks it's so cute that he built a tower of diapers and glue... until she realises that he used dirty diapers). He's also shown to be allowed to inconvenience other people with little or no consequence.
But then he goes to school! And his teacher outright says that "architecture doesn't belong in grade two," which immediately …
This book has a frustrating story structure. It's cute in showing the ways in which the titular character Iggy has an interest in architecture and building initially, but the overarching lesson is a bit wonky? Especially when combined with the other books in the series, which can create a really off-putting shift in tone.
The first thing that I noticed is that Iggy, unlike the girls in later installments of the series, gets to be a bit rambunctious. He gets to be a little naughty up to a point (such as how his mom thinks it's so cute that he built a tower of diapers and glue... until she realises that he used dirty diapers). He's also shown to be allowed to inconvenience other people with little or no consequence.
But then he goes to school! And his teacher outright says that "architecture doesn't belong in grade two," which immediately makes her seem irrational. And honestly, it is. As a teacher, you should be supporting the interests of your students (within reason) and not denigrating them, even if they're not things you like. (I don't like maths, but I wouldn't just outright toss it in the bin in front of the kids who do.)
But probably because this teacher makes an appearance across the series, she has to remain remotely likable. (And also because we continually try to instill a reverence for teachers.) So the author gives her a backstory to explain why she'd behave the way she did, and it was because she was traumatised by being locked in an elevator. And while that is a thing that would cause someone to act in a manner that appears outwardly irrational, they just gloss on over it and continue the story in a manner that means the teacher needs to Just Get Over It.
So going on a school trip, they visit an island and the bridge they use to walk there collapses. The teacher faints, and the kids build a new bridge out of random stuff (like shoes). This proves the teacher wrong about architecture, proving that it has a use and value! So now the kids can learn about it in school because she was shown the power of a child being interested in architecture!
It sounds like it bothers me that an adult (especially a teacher) would be proven wrong, but I actually think books (among other media) should do better about teaching children that their opinions are valuable to society and that adults should take them into consideration without just flatly denying them. This book doesn't do this because there's no direct confrontation, and I feel like something in that vein would've been far better as a message than indirectly having to prove the teacher wrong.
