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COLORS VERSUS SHAPES

Name: COLORS VERSUS SHAPES
Author: Mike Boldt
ISBN: 978-0-06-210303-1

by Mike Boldt ; illustrated by Mike Boldt ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 26, 2014

Not nearly as much fun as the showdown between letters and numbers.

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Boldt (123 versus ABC, 2013) continues to mix things up; this time, colors and shapes audition to be the stars of a book.

Team 1 consists of colors—blobs with arms, legs and faces. They are invited to take the stage first, but they’re interrupted by Team 2—white anthropomorphized shapes with big attitudes: “Clearly we’re going to win this contest….So you may as well just skip those fellas.” Well, them’s fightin’ words. The colors begin to show off, mixing primaries to make secondaries (blue and yellow combine, and green is the result—but all three still exist separately, which may puzzle readers). Meanwhile, two triangles make a square, the only combination; from there, they simply add angles and sides. The yelling escalates until red and octagon accidently collide. Cooperation leads to a colorful, wordless spread that showcases colorful objects built from basic shapes, though not all of them are easily individuated (the three sections of an apple-tree trunk, for instance); Stella Blackstone’s Ship Shapes (2006) did a much better job with regard to combining shapes into scenes. In the end, the judges (the stars of 123 versus ABC) give colors a 10 and shapes an A+, and obviously, they are both the stars of this book. Boldt’s digital illustrations are just as colorful and zany as those in his previous book, but readers may have some trouble following the numerous, crowded speech bubbles.

Not nearly as much fun as the showdown between letters and numbers. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2014

ISBN: 978-0-06-210303-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: June 9, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS

- BOOK REVIEW
CANTALOUPE AND HONEYDO RIDE A BIKE
by Mike Boldt ; illustrated by Mike Boldt

- BOOK REVIEW
DON'T TRUST CATS
by Dev Petty ; illustrated by Mike Boldt

- BOOK REVIEW
DON'T EAT BEES
by Dev Petty ; illustrated by Mike Boldt

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: June 21, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

- BOOK REVIEW
FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

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THE CRAYONS GO BACK TO SCHOOL

by Drew Daywalt ; illustrated by Oliver Jeffers ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 16, 2023

Nothing new here but a nonetheless congenial matriculant in publishing’s autumnal rite of back-to-school offerings.

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The Crayons head back to class in this latest series entry.

Daywalt’s expository text lays out the basics as various Crayons wave goodbye to the beach, choose a first-day outfit, greet old friends, and make new ones. As in previous outings, the perennially droll illustrations and hand-lettered Crayon-speak drive the humor. The ever wrapperless Peach, opining, “What am I going to wear?” surveys three options: top hat and tails, a chef’s toque and apron, and a Santa suit. New friends Chunky Toddler Crayon (who’s missing a bite-sized bit of their blue point) and Husky Toddler Crayon speculate excitedly on their common last name: “I wonder if we’re related!” White Crayon, all but disappearing against the page’s copious white space, sits cross-legged reading a copy of H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man. And Yellow and Orange, notable for their previous existential argument about the color of the sun, find agreement in science class: Jupiter, clearly, is yellow AND orange. Everybody’s excited about art class—“Even if they make a mess. Actually…ESPECIALLY if they make a mess!” Here, a spread of crayoned doodles of butterflies, hearts, and stars is followed by one with fulsome scribbles. Fans of previous outings will spot cameos from Glow in the Dark and yellow-caped Esteban (the Crayon formerly known as Pea Green). (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Nothing new here but a nonetheless congenial matriculant in publishing’s autumnal rite of back-to-school offerings. (Picture book. 4-6)