All About the Book

Building Manhattan is a vividly illustrated picture book about the history of the many cultures who came to the island of Manhattan and what they built. It encompasses Manhattan's rich history from its conception as an island of natural beauty with diverse wildlife, to its contemporary diversity of cultures and architecture.

In writing and illustrating Manhattan's rich history, it was Laura's goal to make history both exciting and accessible to young children. Along with the book she has created enrichment materials with educational emphasis focused on helping teach children new ways to relate history to their own lives.

Viking Juvenile (Penguin) has released Building Manhattan!

Building Manhattan by Laura Vila is now available to purchase or order at your local Barnes & Nobles, Borders and Amazon.com

All About the Author

"The art of making children’s books is not only one of words and pictures, it is the art of making books into experiences with a life of their own inside a child’s mind." - L. Vila

Laura Vila pursues whole heartedly the creating of books that magnify the excitement and beauty of illustration and prose. Beyond the words written and the pictures painted, she believe books become doorways to other worlds and experiences for children young and old alike. Children are by nature curious. By illustrating books that foster learning through creative exploration of ideas, facts and fantasy, children may develop richer inner landscapes and ask bigger questions about the world around them.

Laura Vila believes that discovery, imagination and exploration are vital tools for children. She has devoted her publishing career to being involved in projects that not only allow her to explore the versatility of her own artistic skills, but by being involved in projects that expand and broaden the borders of what is considered educational.

Laura is a freelance illustrator and author and is always open to making author appearance at schools and educational workshops. Please contact Laura if you are interested in a author event.

All illustrations and materials on this site are the sole property of Laura Vila. They are to be used solely for educational outreach and non profit use. If you have any questions regarding the use of the materials provided on this site, please e-mail the author.