Sky Boys: How They Built the Empire State Building

Sky Boys: How They Built the Empire State Building by Deborah Hopkinson and illustrated by James Ransome describes how the Empire State building was built in just fourteen months. At its completion in 1931 this building was the tallest building in the world, 1,250 feet high. A young boy, whose father recently lost his job, describes how he watches as the lot at Thirty-fourth and Fifth is cleared and piers are sunk into rock fifty-five feet down. As the support columns climb the young boy watches workmen climb like spiders and walk along beams hardly wider than their shoes. The boy’s father surprises him with tickets to enter the newly completed building on May, 1931 and they marvel at the sights from the eighty-sixth floor observation deck. Through the boy’s word we come to see how the Empire State building stood as a beacon of hope in a time of stress and fear.

Grades 1-3 will be discussion this wonderful story on Monday, May 18 from 4:00-5:00 p.m. We will watch a short clip from 1930 showing these amazing “sky boys” working high above ground.