A visual treat guaranteed to entrance budding mathematicians.
Take a tour and learn about the art of various shapes.
Pale-skinned, bluish-gray-haired Alma, curator at the Museum of Shapes, and her dog Max are planning an exhibit—with a little help from readers. They start with the simplest shape, a point, and build out from a line to an angle to a triangle to other shapes, eventually including an octagon. Along the way, readers learn about curved shapes such as circles or semicircles, as well as three-dimensional shapes. Of these, shapes like cones and cylinders both have circles as their base. Different shapes combine to form items readers will recognize from real life, such as a sailboat and a leaf. Wiggly lines can create objects, too, such as an oak leaf or cooked spaghetti. Völker periodically poses thought-provoking questions to readers, asking them to find all the triangles on a page, to pick a favorite shape, or to determine if a sunset is made up of one circle or two semicircles. Once Alma sets up the exhibit, it’s time for opening night. Völker observes that even outside, the city’s skyline is filled with amazing shapes. This geometric primer is an immaculately balanced combination of geometric information, “I spy” elements, and interaction. The pale backgrounds and consistently clean lines make the different elements pop, whether depicted in bold, light, or variegated shades. Backmatter notes that the idea for the book originated at the real-life Museum of Concrete Art and Design in Ingolstadt, Germany.
A visual treat guaranteed to entrance budding mathematicians. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2025
ISBN: 9781800660595
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Cicada Books
Review Posted Online: today
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on...
Continuing from their acclaimed Those Shoes (2007), Boelts and Jones entwine conversations on money, motives, and morality.
This second collaboration between author and illustrator is set within an urban multicultural streetscape, where brown-skinned protagonist Ruben wishes for a bike like his friend Sergio’s. He wishes, but Ruben knows too well the pressure his family feels to prioritize the essentials. While Sergio buys a pack of football cards from Sonny’s Grocery, Ruben must buy the bread his mom wants. A familiar lady drops what Ruben believes to be a $1 bill, but picking it up, to his shock, he discovers $100! Is this Ruben’s chance to get himself the bike of his dreams? In a fateful twist, Ruben loses track of the C-note and is sent into a panic. After finally finding it nestled deep in a backpack pocket, he comes to a sense of moral clarity: “I remember how it was for me when that money that was hers—then mine—was gone.” When he returns the bill to her, the lady offers Ruben her blessing, leaving him with double-dipped emotions, “happy and mixed up, full and empty.” Readers will be pleased that there’s no reward for Ruben’s choice of integrity beyond the priceless love and warmth of a family’s care and pride.
Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on children. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6649-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
Amusing, yes. Useful for reading practice, yes, but not necessarily guaranteed to make new readers the “read-i-est.” (Early...
Elephant and Piggie make an appearance to introduce the first in their new series, an egalitarian introduction to superlatives.
Each one of seven blades of talking grass—of a total of eight—discovers that it is superb at something: it’s tallest, curliest, silliest, and so forth. The humor aims to appeal to a broad spectrum. It is slightly disturbing that one being eaten by purple bugs is proud of being the crunchiest, but that will certainly appeal to a slice of the audience. The eighth blade of grass is grappling with a philosophical identity crisis; its name is Walt, a sly reference to Whitman's Leaves of Grass that will go right over the heads of beginning readers but may amuse astute parents or teachers. Tension builds with the approach of a lawn mower; the blades of grass lose their unique features when they are trimmed to equal heights. Mercifully, they are chopped off right above the eyes and can continue their silly banter. Departing from the image of a Whitman-esque free spirit, Walt now discovers he is the neatest. Lots of speech bubbles, repetition, and clear layout make this entry a useful addition to lessons on adjectives and superlatives while delivering a not-so-subtle message that everyone is good at something. Elephant and Piggie's final assertion that “this book is the FUNNIEST” doesn't necessarily make it so, however.
Amusing, yes. Useful for reading practice, yes, but not necessarily guaranteed to make new readers the “read-i-est.” (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 20, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4847-2635-8
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
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