Why did I pick up this book on a recent shopping expedition?- Firstly the cover - Tilt - great title for a book about the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
- Secondly the author - I do love the writing of Mary Hoffman (I met her in London in 2012). I always to read her book The Colour of Home to our senior classes.
The suggested reading/interest age for Tilt is 12+ but there is no reason why a senior Primary student should not read this book.
Netta (Simonetta) watches her father working on the tower at Pisa. It is leaning but this is not the fault of her father. He is the head mason of the city but there have been other masons before him.
"Oh I know girls aren't supposed to be interested in the structure of buildings or in stone carving. But all my life I had seen my father come home from his work covered in marble dust or seen him drawing his designs for statues ... His work fascinated me, spoke to my every instinct, and I couldn't pretend to be keen on learning how to cook or clean and sew, as real daughters were supposed to."
So this book embraces themes of women's rights, science and technology, STEM subjects along with a fascinating historical setting of Pisa in 1298 all in just 92 pages.
Here are five questions with Mary Hoffman about Tilt. Tilt is designed for readers with dyslexia. You can read more here. You might like to read this detailed review.
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