From RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) comes this must-have celebration of amazing homes around the world!

Our homes are awesome, and this book explores an amazing array of them in vivid colour. From a swirling, eco-friendly, underground house built to blend in with an ancient Saxon fort, to a road-safe, castle-shaped home on wheels, this book gifts young readers an up-close look at the design, engineering and artistry found in the diverse places we call ‘home’. Illustrator Sue Downing brings to life homes found in the UK, Albania, Spain, the USA, Colombia, France, New Zealand, Australia, China and more. The book finishes with a guided home-building activity and a quiz to test readers’ skills!

The My Awesome Book of series, published in partnership with RIBA and written by their Learning Manager, Sophie Draper, is designed to inspire and impress young readers with the astonishing architectural achievements all around us. Curated with expertise, care and style, the series is perfect for young readers aged 5+ and connects to key parts of the Art & Design, Citizenship, Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths curricula in primary schools.

Sample contents from My Awesome Books of Amazing Homes: Puzzle Tirana + La Muralla Roja apartments (Albania / Spain) / The Shoe House + The Invisible House (USA) / Casa Batlló + zolcalos (Spain / Colombia) / Palace of Versailles (France) / Holocene House + Heliotrope Rotating House (Australia / Germany) / Qiyun Mountain Tree House + Cube Houses (China / The Netherlands) / Earth homes of Djenné + The Ger (Mali / Mongolia)

Sophie Draper

Sophie lives in east London with her husband and two young daughters. She has worked in cultural education for 18 years and has delivered learning programmes for families, schools and early years at the Wallace collection, the Museum of London and the National Gallery. In 2021 Sophie Joined RIBA to work with architects in teaching children and young people about the spaces where they live, learn, work and play.

Sue Downing

Sue lives and works in a little eco house in Newcastle upon Tyne with her husband and two children. She loves to draw, design and make things. Since leaving Edinburgh College of art in the late 1990s, she’s worked in-house, on a freelance basis, as an illustrator, product/licensed character developer, a designer/maker of jewellery, greetings cards and wrapping paper – never a dull moment! Sue’s inspirations are many – from knitted toys, Japanese design, and Scandinavian Chic to Modernism, Dick Bruna and Info-graphics. She’s drawn to anything that is quirky, humorous and minimal in design, and hopes that this is reflected in her illustration.