VALENTINE'S SHAPES

Readers experience the sharing of gifts and treats on Valentine’s Day.

The narrator, invisible except for a white-skinned hand, explains all the shapes one encounters during these and other holiday activities. There are stars to draw on Daddy’s card, circles at the centers of Mommy’s daisies, and, of course, heart-shaped balloons. The text, two sentences per double-page spread in a large white type, is clear and direct, as is the pleasingly round, two-dimensional art in highly saturated colors. Sadly, the shapes are a little small for newbie geometers, particularly the tiny triangle-shaped sprinkles on a tray of heart-shaped cookies and the chocolate squares in a bowl. The book is shaped like the upper portion of a heart per series formula, but the cropping issues that plagued other offerings in the First Celebrations series are fortunately absent.

Simple and amiable.