LOVE IS A SHAPE

Rhymes initially about physical shapes turn into declarations of love.

“Sun is a sphere. / Arches are wings. / Love is the shape of a blanket and swing.” This rhyme corresponds with an illustration of what looks like a parent and child, both with tawny skin and dark hair, sitting on a swing as faraway birds (“arches”) fly before the sun (“sphere”). The words “Square is a dock. / Wavy is lake. / Love is the shape of the stories we make” are paired with an illustration of the parent and child enjoying a summer day with extended family and friends. As pages turn, the rhymes reference increasingly intricate geometric shapes, all of which readers should delight in hunting for. Characters recur in different combinations, and while most scenes find them appreciating one another’s company in the country, two members are shown celebrating over ice cream at a sweet shop (“City is rectangles. / Oval: balloons. / Love is the shape of a treat: ‘And two spoons’”). Hoefler’s rhymes capture many different moods and make clear that while not every moment in life is blissful (one image finds the mom and two kids mourning a pet bird), any day with love is a good one. Day’s digitally tweaked art has a chalky, carefully worked-at serenity—a sublime vehicle for the emotions this book is chasing.

This singular offering is a twofer: It’s a seek-and-find also harboring a love poem.