Clear, crisp, clean, and concise—trucks and shapes have never before looked (or sounded) this good.
Storytime gets a kick in the pants with this jaunty combo of shapes and vehicles.
In this look at basic geometry via high-resolution photographs of construction trucks, the youngest of readers are introduced to nine different shapes. Using a seek-and-find format, the book encourages them to locate each shape as it appears on a vehicle, clearly delineated with thick, colorful lines. A clear, red triangle decorates the bed of a dump truck; a blue oval surrounds the barrel of a concrete mixer. The rhyming text names the featured equipment, each shot with crystal clarity outdoors on a variety of beautiful days. From the jaunty little red forklift sporting a rectangle on its side to the rhombus of a road sign snapped at an angle, small fingers will have no difficulty tracing each of the featured shapes again and again. Similar in its cadences to Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Eric Carle (1967), this book is ideal for construction storytimes everywhere. “Road roller / Road roller / Coming through! / I spy a circle— / How about you?” Be sure to sing it to the tune of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” if you really want to bring down the house. Activities to further engage young children are included at the end of the book.
Clear, crisp, clean, and concise—trucks and shapes have never before looked (or sounded) this good. (Picture book. 1-3)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-77278-134-2
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Pajama Press
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
Useful if uninspired.
A photo-illustrated primer of shapes.
The first double-page spread introduces the forms and invites little fingers to trace around the dotted lines outlining everyday objects illustrating the shapes. In addition to a rectangular door, a square slice of toast (with what appears to be cream cheese and jelly), and a triangular button, there are a heart-shaped candy, a star-shaped cookie, and two notably 3-D objects standing in as two-dimensional shapes: a circular ball and an oval egg. Next up, bright photos of tortilla chips, a “cheese slice,” a (triangular) kite, and more illustrate a spread about triangles. The following page shows a picture of an A-frame house and asks “What shapes can you see?” This pattern repeats until the book cycles through all the shapes. The project ends with a review of the shapes, smaller than ever, as they crowd the page. Most of the illustrations are crisp and bold against the white backgrounds and employ DK’s seemingly infinite photo library. Some of the objects may be a bit of a stretch and may prove confusing or unfamiliar to toddlers (a heart-shaped pizza? Triangular bunting?), but little ones with be pleased to see some favorites in the mix, particularly two pages of colorful doughnuts (circle) and a wonderfully bright blue clutch of robins’ eggs (oval).
Useful if uninspired. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: June 13, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4654-6082-0
Page Count: 36
Publisher: DK Publishing
Review Posted Online: June 18, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
This book does a competent-enough job of representing each season in a way appropriate for young readers, though the...
This board book explores the four seasons and their hallmarks through the repeated, titular question.
Each season receives uniform treatment: a two-page spread describing the features and weather, followed by another examining whether or not it’s the right time of year to eat ice cream. The layout is likewise consistent: a four-panel grid on one page paired with a full-page illustration. This design thoughtfully provides an age-appropriate familiarity of structure. Photographs are placed on digitally rendered backgrounds and enhanced with collage elements; they are simple and clear even though the cartoonish people look a bit silly next to realistic images. There is an intentional, successful symmetry of facts across each season. The birds who fly south in the fall return to lay eggs in the spring, while baby birds learn to fly in the summer. The “Is it warm enough for ice cream?” prompt isn’t completely effective, often forcing awkward answers such as “No! But it’s windy enough to fly a kite and… / watch a pinwheel spin.” Is a spinning pinwheel really a sure sign of the fall and windy weather?
This book does a competent-enough job of representing each season in a way appropriate for young readers, though the question of whether or not it’s warm enough for ice cream is beside the point. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Feb. 13, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4654-6786-7
Page Count: 18
Publisher: DK Publishing
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
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