Describe Iggy Peck, Architect Pictures
Blind kids benefit from picture descriptions every bit as much as sighted kids do from seeing the pictures. Don't forget to share these picture descriptions, written by a descriptive audio expert, especially for Great Expectations!
Picture Descriptions for Iggy Peck, Architect
Front cover
- Against a graph-paper background, Iggy Peck, a 7-year-old boy with a thick tuft of brown hair sticking straight out, puts the finishing touches on a drawing of a skyscraper. Gripping a pencil, he stands on tiptoe in his green high-top sneakers, balancing on letters that spell out the title of the book. Iggy's teacher, a woman with a big, round bun on top of her head, glares at him over the rooftops of buildings made from rulers, apples, and chalk. A white cat adjusts one of the title letters, while small blackbirds carry pencils and paintbrushes in their beaks.
Endpaper
- A tall red crane, mounted on a truck, lowers the book's title letters into place, with help from Iggy's white cat.
Dedication and title page
- Against a graph-paper background, toddler Iggy, wearing a T-shirt and diaper, smiles at a skyline constructed of rulers and pencils. A pencil is tucked behind his ear. The words "Iggy Peck, Architect" are arranged in the shape of a building.
First page of story
- Toddler Iggy, his bare bottom peeking out from beneath a striped T-shirt, stands on cushions to admire a lopsided tower of stained, dripping diapers stacked up to the ceiling. The white cat sniffs gingerly at the tower. Sticky bottles of glue lie scattered about, and an open book on the floor shows a picture of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
Text begins: "'Good Gracious, Ignacious!'..."
- Iggy's mom, wearing a flower patterned dress, stares wide-eyed at the scene.
Text begins: "But Iggy was gone..."
- Caked with mud and still missing his diaper, Iggy stands in his yard in front of a giant dirt sculpture of a Sphinx — a creature with lion's paws and a human head wearing an Egyptian headdress. With one eye closed, Iggy peers through his fingers, squared into a frame, as he sizes up the white cat that serves as his model. An angry neighbor, whose body and lawnchair are covered in dirt clods, shakes a fist at Iggy.
Text begins: "When Iggy was three..."
- Little Iggy, wearing shorts and a tie, kneels on a chair to add a final peach to the top of a church steeple. The cat slinks past a Pagoda-style temple with curved rooftops to peer into a building made entirely out of red, yellow, and green apples! Iggy's parents, dressed in evening clothes, smile at their son.
Text begins: "At dinner one night..."
- Iggy's dad applauds as young Iggy, in his pajamas, teeters on a ladder to place a thick slice of pie atop an arch made of pancakes. The white cat licks a mini version of the arch from a plate on the floor.
Text begins: "Dear Ig had it made..."
- Iggy's teacher tosses a jumble of architectural books into a wastebasket, as his classmates look on. At his desk, Iggy constructs an elaborate castle out of chalk.
Text begins: "That might seem severe..."
- A young girl in a yellow coat, with a big round bun on her head, stares out a plate-glass window overlooking tall buildings of every shape and design. Her reflection in the window shows her eyes opened wide.
No text
- Crowded into an elevator among masked clowns and trapeze artists, young Lila munches on a large wheel of cheese.
Text begins: "She was found two days later..."
- Outside the elevator, a dog in a clown costume balances on his hind legs atop a giant red ball. Outside the window, a helicopter whizzes over several tall buildings.
Text begins: "As you might guess..."
- Iggy stands at the rear of the classroom next to a tall castle of chalk. He is wearing a knitted sweater and green sneakers. A grown-up Miss Greer points sternly at Iggy and his castle, while his classmates look on.
Text begins: "'No, Ma'am,' Iggy said..."
- Wearing a glum look, Iggy sits alone at his desk, head propped up in his hand. His pencil lies on the floor by his feet.
Text begins: "After twelve long days..."
- A smiling Miss Greer leads a single file of kids on a hike. Two students at the front carry a picnic basket. An unsmiling Iggy slumps at the back of the line.
Text begins: "They crossed an old trestle..."
- Miss Greer lies on the grass, a hand to her forehead, as a wooden bridge splinters into the water below. The last planks from the bridge fall into the stream just as Iggy finishes crossing to the island!
Text begins: "The class was amazed..."
- Iggy uses a twig to scratch a drawing of a bridge into the ground. The children, in their stocking feet, gather supplies and remove laces from their shoes, which lie together in a pile!
Text begins: "And when she came to..."
- Miss Greer wakes up on one side of the island and stares at a makeshift bridge spanning the stream. Iggy's smiling classmates stand behind him, in their stocking feet, on the other side. A pair of underpants flaps in the breeze at the bridge's highest point.
Text begins: "It all became clear..."
- Miss Greer, wearing only one shoe, crosses the bridge Iggy and the students built. In her imagination, it's a grand, fiery red structure with tall towers and many cables — just like the Golden Gate Bridge! Facts about that famous landmark float in the air: opened 1936, 4200 feet long, 746 high.
Text begins: "Now every week..."
- A smiling Iggy, his tuft of hair sticking up and a pencil behind his ear, uses a pointer to show drawings of the world's most famous buildings: the Parthenon (c. 450-424 B.C.), Neuschwanstein castle (built 1868-86), Coliseum (c. 72-82 A.D.), Leaning Tower of Pisa, St. Paul's Cathedral (c. 1675-1710), Egyptian pyramid (c. 2550-2470 B.C.), Stonehenge (c. 2000 B.C.), Empire State Building (built 1931), and Sydney Opera House (built 1957-1973).
Back cover
- Against a graph-paper background, models of famous architecture crowd together, surrounded by scattered chalk, pencils and a bottle of glue. Two blackbirds regard each other at the edge of the scene.
These descriptions were written by Jill Robbins for Great Expectations
