Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 3--6--In an ambitious attempt to expose young readers to "design thinking"--the concept that every work of art and consumer product starts with recognizing a need or problem and then moving through stages from "define" and "ideate" to "implement"--Hale pays tribute to the creative couple responsible for envisioning a surprising amount of what we wear, see, use, and sit on. Following the two subjects from age three, when they were already showing artistic leanings, Hale leaves most of the biographical specifics in the afterword to focus on their process and the spirit of playful experimentation that informed it. Backing up pithy quotes ("Toys and games are the prelude to serious ideas," "Let the fun out of the bag," etc.) and descriptions of select works, the illustrations--which are done in a period style reminiscent of mid-20th-century advertising art--offer scenes of the two putting heads and hands together; they then issue a seemingly infinite stream of fresh, distinctive projects ranging from architectural and fabric designs to films, interactive exhibits for IBM and other clients and, perhaps most famously, cheap, practical splints, racks, and chairs made from bent plywood and wire. "Eventually," Charles wrote, "everything connects--people, ideas, objects." The work suffers in comparison with James Yang's livelier Designers at Play, as it fails to present any convincing reasons why younger readers should know who these talented people were and why we should know about them. VERDICT Deep insights into the creative process--but some of the more technical or abstract content will challenge younger picture book audiences.--John Peters
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Review by Horn Book Review
A joint biography of renowned mid-century modern designers Charles (1907-1978) and Ray (1912-1988) Eames is an ambitious undertaking for a picture book; author-illustrator Hale more than proves herself up to the task. Given that her subjects are perhaps best known for their signature molded-plywood chairs (not exactly a common high-interest topic for the picture-book set), Hale takes immediate steps to welcome child readers by introducing the Eameses as children themselves. She packs an astounding amount of detail into parallel accounts of their lives before they meet at Cranbrook Academy of Art, while accompanying illustrations establish a fittingly mid-century modern style, with a technicolor palette and a poster-like quality of simplified forms and strong typography. In these opening pages, Charles and Ray each suffer losses, overcome hardships, and demonstrate creativity and ingenuity in spades, foreshadowing the genius behind their innovative plans for functional, accessible design in architecture, textiles, toys, and, of course, furniture. As she guides readers through their adult years, Hale offers anecdotes and asides about how the Eameses' visionary work helped define mid-century modern aesthetics, while their inventiveness and vision also supported such disparate projects as enhancements in WWII combat-casualty care and an interactive exhibit on mathematical concepts. Pull up a chair -- molded-plywood or otherwise -- and enjoy some serious picture-book-biography fun. megan dowd lambertMarch/April 2026 p.82 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
For the Eameses, work and play went hand in hand. Husband-and-wife industrial design team Charles and Ray Eames were renowned for their hands-on methods. Giving equal time to both members of the pair, starting with their youth (when each lost a father), Hale notes the curiosity, discipline, and zeal for life that influenced their later careers. Teaming up as young adults, they aimed to solve problems, whatever the field, producing colorful, ingeniously engineered designs for toys, furniture, buildings, textiles, graphics, and exhibitions. They also collaborated on films, photographs, and animation. Hale focuses mainly on the couple's use of wood and their goal of affordable modern mass production. Together they invented a method of bending plywood into perhaps their most famous creations, the various Eames chairs. Hale never mentions the later productions of their furniture designs in wire, fiberglass, and molded plastic, though she applauds their solar-powered "Do-Nothing Machine" toy, made for an aluminum company. Stressing the duo's philosophy of "learning by doing" and the sense of playfulness that permeated their work, Hale's story is as streamlined, inviting, and balanced as the Eameses' famous designs. The clean, midcentury-influenced illustrations effectively convey the designs (the Eames House interior is especially appealing). A clever final spread summarizes some of their achievements, set against a backdrop comprised of an outline of one of their products. A winning celebration of a power couple's versatility, innovation, and collaborative spirit. (more information on the Eameses, learn more, quotation sources)(Informational picture book. 8-12) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
